


Kurumi Fearful

by Tohka_Yatogami



Category: Date A Live
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tohka_Yatogami/pseuds/Tohka_Yatogami
Summary: (Imported Work from fanfiction.net)Original version of Kurumi's story for "The Sephira Chronicles"
Relationships: Tokisaki Kurumi/Itsuka Shido
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Here's the next section of the Date Another Origin, the Kurumi story. This is the one I'm the most excited to do, but before we begin this one, I have a lot of important things to say now here in the author's note. Unlike Yoshino Friendship which was a fusion of Volumes 1 & 2, this story is a fusion of not just Volume 1 & 3, but also the recently released Volume 16.**

**While I can guarantee the first chapter at the very least will not have anything from Volume 16 in it, this story WILL contain spoilers that aren't just related to Kurumi, but some of the other prominent characters including Shido, Kotori and even Phantom. So don't read past the first chapter of this story yet if you don't want to be spoiled.**

**Aside from that, I hope you enjoy this story.**

* * *

**_Chapter 1: Out of the Shadows_ **

**_~April 9th, Residential Area - 5 pm_ **

Through the shadow of two buildings, a dark red and black shade suddenly opened up and the silhouette of a girl walked through, her body glowing similar colors before she was in a completely different outfit, no one was around to have seen this logic defying act. The girl skips a bit and hums as she finally arrived at her destination, Tenguu City, created from a spot of land once flattened into a crater through a spatial quake.

"I've made it, soon I'll be having my-" The girl gasped as she caught herself. "Easy girl, don't get excited just yet. You need a bit more patience than that. I'll make sure to save the best for last."

As she was walking, she didn't notice the sight of someone and she bumped into him. She looked to see the ruffian like man look at her, two others walking behind him with their hands in their pockets.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I guess I didn't see you there."

The three guys looked at her, and the leader who the girl had bumped into gave her a dirty look.

"Yeah, what was that for bitch. You've gotta do a lot more than say sorry if you wanna go free."

"Damn, this one looks like she's seen some action before." The second guy added.

"Give us your name before we get down. Don't worry, we don't bite that hard." The third guy said, a perverted look on his face.

In most cases where a girl ran into a group of guys like these, she'd either get scared, try to run or if gutsy give them a nice kick where the sun doesn't shine. This girl however?

"Oh wow, so you want me to make it up to you with a different kind of bumping." The girl smirked. The smile she gave fit her words, serious or not, perfectly.

The three guys suddenly get excited looks at that.

"Hot damn, this one's actually willing. Nice!" The second guy said.

"Then I guess we'll make sure to treat your pretty face real nice." The third guy said, his face not even bothering to hide his excitement as some drool begins to leak out the side.

"Come now, there's plenty to go around. Follow me and see for yourself... if you dare." The three guys all chuckle as they follow, expecting to have the time of their lives with this girl.

However right before they all tried to grab her, suddenly the sight of eerie white hands stretched out from her shadow as it expands, holding them all in place. The girl turns around, her visible eye now glowing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should explain this a bit more..."

Soon the girl's outfit glows and changes before a pair of guns, a musket and a flintlock pistol, form in her hands.

"W-what the hell?" The leader of the guys muttered in horror. "HELP!"

Their screams however failed to matter, and right as she held her guns at them, a truck drove nearby with a can of some red liquid that had been rolling on the ground being crushed under it as an eerie sound covers the alley.

Soon the alley was seen without the three guys that had walked in with the girl, and the red liquid that had sprayed had flown across the area so convincingly that with the setting sun, no one could tell that some of it was really the blood of the three she had just killed... and eaten.

"Thanks for the snack boys, it was delicious." The girl said before licking her lips, savoring the taste. "Now, time for me to get back to business."

The girl walked into her shadow, disappearing somewhere else. It was only moments after a bunch of girls wearing some strange suits with armor attached arrived at the scene, well aware that there was indeed blood on the walls.

"My god, this is... this is brutal." The only adult among them said. "There's no doubt about it, she's come here... request for all forces to be on high alert! Tell them that Nightmare's on the loose!"

"ROGER!" All the other soldiers said.

* * *

**_~April 10th, Raizen High School - 8 AM_ **

The next day, many students were seen entering the entrance of Raizen High, the first day of the new year starting today, leaving many students to rush in a hurry while others simply relaxed and took their time since they had nothing to expect just yet. Standing by the entrance, the girl only known as Nightmare currently stood at the entrance gate, now dressed in a Raizen High uniform and carrying her bag and supplies with her.

"So, this is the place. Where I'll find... him." She said, her face giving a small smile before she walked inside.

Once she did, she waited by the door to her classroom, having signed up for school at the last minute she was considered a transfer student and her homeroom teacher had to introduce her since the chances of anyone knowing her were slim to none.

"Now before we begin class, may I have your attention?" Her class' teacher, Tamae Okamine, said with a giggle as she listened from behind the door. "Are you ready for a surprise? We have a transfer student joining our class today!"

Most of the students were surprised at that, true getting a new student would surprise everyone at any point in the school year, but for one to appear on the first day was a rarity among an already uncommon event.

"OK, come on in."

Realizing that was her cue, the girl opened the door and walked in, getting the attention of most of the class' boys who were surprised by her looks which fit those of a rich girl's, they held it in trying not to be rude as she had yet to reveal her name to them. She wrote the kanji for her name on the board and then turned to the class.

"Hello guys, my name is Kurumi Tokisaki." Kurumi said, finally revealing her name to the class.

The smile she gave almost made her sparkle, causing all of the boys to finally release their gasps of excitement while the girls all gave a friendly look... the exception being a white-haired girl by the window seat, though she didn't seem to show her emotions much anyways, and the blue haired by next to her who was surprised by her reaction. Once Kurumi saw him she realized she found who she was searching for, the boy known as Shido Itsuka.

"Just so you know, I'm actually a Spirit."

Most of the class, even the teacher, were confused by this claim, Shido fell slightly as the hand holding him up shifted at that, the white-haired girl silently gasped at that reaction for reasons unknown to anyone but herself and Kurumi. After a moment of silent Tamae finally said something to break the tension.

"Umm... let's move on. Well, that was one of the more unique introductions I've seen. Go ahead and take a seat anywhere." Tamae said, still having a slightly odd look.

"Before I sit, could someone do me a quick favor?" Kurumi began. "Since I'm new, I don't know my way around the school that well. Would anyone be so kind to show me around after class? I'm really sorry to trouble you, but I promise to make it worth your while."

Most of the boys get excited at that.

"Yeah, you betcha! I'll do it!" Hiroto exclaimed while raising his hand, hoping to get the chance of having a real girlfriend other than the one he only had on his phone. Kurumi closed her eyes and smiled, giving him hope she'd say yes until...

"Not you, but thanks." Hiroto gave a disappointed sigh, while most of the boys went quiet as Kurumi just made it clear she wasn't going to be that easy to get. Kurumi soon walked to the empty desk near where Shido was sitting and looked at him. "Would you be interested in helping me, Shido right?"

Shido blinked in surprise while all the boys, minus the moping Hiroto who just stared at his desk gloomily, turned at Shido in shock and surprise at that. Shido on the other hand was extremely nervous, the only two girls he had any experience with in his life were his mother, and his 13-year old younger sister Kotori Itsuka. Despite that, he wasn't one to be rude or not help someone if they honestly needed it.

"Uh... yeah, OK." Shido replied, Kurumi smirked at that as she recalled what led her to find him.

* * *

_-Flashback Start-_

Kurumi stood on the roof of a random city, wearing her Astral Dress as she stared at the lights of all the various buildings while her shadow suddenly expanded as if it was trying to grab something back or devour something.

"It's not nearly enough yet, how long will it take to gather what I need?" Kurumi said to herself, suddenly she felt a presence behind her and turned around. There was no one to see, but she clearly made out the sight of some mosaic of noise. "Oh, didn't expect to see you... Phantom."

" _[As courteous to me as ever, Kurumi Tokisaki.]_ " A distorted voice spoke out, recognizable enough one knew they were speaking to someone, but just like they couldn't make out their gender, one could not properly identify Phantom's voice either.

Phantom... the enigmatic Spirit, it's identity and gender were a complete mystery, and despite her greeting towards it, Kurumi and Phantom weren't friends. Not even something like partners, allies or even simple acquaintances, Kurumi best described her as an unavoidable annoyance. If there was anything Kurumi did know about Phantom, it's that it had a hand in the appearance of other Spirits as Kurumi felt the presence of a new spirit fairly recently.

" _[You've been gathering a lot of time for a while now, am I to assume that you're trying to gather power so nothing could match you? Perhaps you want me dead in the future?]_ " Phantom asked, genuinely curious to what Kurumi was doing. " _[Then again, I probably shouldn't expect you to-]_ "

"You really wanna know? To use Zafkiel's final attack, Yud Bet. I need to gather enough power... and I will gather it, don't doubt me, I will never give up." Kurumi began explaining, holding Zafkiel close before firing it, causing something to be seen briefly before it sunk into her shadow.

"I will travel to the past 30 years ago, and kill the First Spirit, the source for all other Spirits came. I'm going to kill it with my own two hands."

Phantom's unseen mouth curled a bit as she smirked at that.

" _[Ooh, to think you'd actually share that with me. Well... it seems you're quite the noble Spirit after all, aren't you?]_ " Phantom quickly moved as Kurumi with a dark look shot at her, barely moving out of the line of fire in time. " _[Oh dear, what did I do now? I was merely trying to compliment you.]_ "

"...I'd appreciate if you'd watch your mouth, you don't know me after all. I'm anything but a good person. I think the last few years have been proof enough with the choices I've made. Now if you have no more reason here..." Kurumi held out Zafkiel again, Phantom sighed as they were point at it.

"...I'd kindly like you to leave me alone. I only can spare so much time minding you after all."

Phantom shrugged its arms.

" _[Fine then, I guess you're not that interested in hearing what I have to say. To think I bothered trying to give you advise about someone who might have the power you need.]_ " Phantom began to take it's leave, but suddenly felt a hand grab its arm. Phantom turned and smirked as an arm from Kurumi's shadow was seen holding her.

" _[It seems you care now, alright then. Would you believe me if I told you there's a boy named Shido Itsuka, a boy who holds the entire power of a single spirit?]_ "

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

Shido looked out the window after class had ended, trying to calm himself over the fact a girl just asked him to show her around the school. While he did promise to do it... he'd honestly face a hundred other more challenging things than this if he had the option to.

'Kurumi Tokisaki... why did she ask me out of everyone? It's almost like she knew me somehow, could we have met before?' Shido thought, he had lost most of his memories of the past, his classmate Origami had clearly known him despite his inability to recall the white-haired girl himself.

"Shido?"

Shido nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to see Kurumi behind him, he was able to calm himself however so Kurumi didn't notice anything odd with him. "Are you ready to show me a good time?" She kindly asked him.

"Uh... sure, let's go." Shido said, trying to hide his nervousness.

As the two walked out of the room, his fellow classmate Origami Tobiichi looked at the two, and soon followed. Partially it was because Origami had feelings for Shido and didn't like the idea of a girl stealing him from her, but at the same time the fact this girl had revealed herself as a Spirit caused her to be worried. She wasn't present at the time, but she was a member of the very group who discovered the blood of Kurumi's victims, and it became very likely she had was looking at the so called "Nightmare" that worried most wizards.

Codename: Nightmare, otherwise known as the "Worst Spirit". while most Spirits' levels of destruction were hard to judge aside from their pace quakes, Kurumi was not so grey in her information. It had been confirmed she has killed people, and that total was over 10,000 by non-spatial quake means, and it was very possible in Origami's eyes that she had chosen Shido as het next target.

'I won't let you take him from me... Kurumi Tokisaki' Origami thought, staring fiercely at her possible target. 'And if you are really Nightmare...'

She tightened her fist.

"...I'll kill you myself."

* * *

**Phew... first chapter's finally finished, the first chapter of a story's always the hard part in my opinion, especially when it's an idea you really like and are scared how well you'll manage to make it. I think the first thing you've probably noticed that's different so far is Mana's not anywhere, not to worry, she'll be showing up in the next chapter.**

**The reason she hasn't appeared yet is because in canon, she only finds Shido due to the video feed of the fight with Yoshino, who in this story hasn't even appear yet. As a result, she won't be a Wizard, briefly join the AST, or be part of DEM. She also has no history with Kurumi, but her appearance WILL affect Kurumi's actions once she shows up.**

**Phantom will also be taking a much bigger role at this time of the story, probably the biggest challenge since even in canon she's barely bothered to be directly in the action, and in a sense, she'll 'kinda' be in the role Tohka would have been when I can apply it.**

**Despite all that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Unlike Yoshino Friendship, I'm currently expecting this story may be around 6-8 chapters at the moment, so even if I get the other chapters out at my usual speed, don't expect this story to be marked as completed anytime soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, a friendly reminded in case anyone forgot what I said during Chapter 1's author note, as of this chapter I can no longer guarantee the avoidance of any Volume 16 spoilers, it'll depend on how far I go before I decide to end the chapter and if you, the readers, either realize something is a spoiler rather than a difference I've made for the story.**

**I'll avoid saying what possible spoilers are to try and amend the latter issue, but do know that anything related to Kurumi will very likely be a spoiler, so unless you don't mind/care about spoilers then it's best you withhold on reading the rest of this story for now.**

**Anyways, as of this chapter we finally have Mana joining the story as one of the major characters. I did wanna show this through the story summary, but for some odd reason there's no option to add Mana's name to the main character section. Hopefully that's fixed in the future so I can amend that small issue, now with that out of the way, enjoy chapter 2 everyone.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Color of Fear**

"So, what romantic getaway should we head to first?" Kurumi asked playfully, silently giggling to herself over Shido's flustered reaction.

Shido began thinking to himself on what he should say, knowing he needed to be quick or Kurumi may tease him about it, as it was already fairly obvious to the class that Kurumi wasn't afraid to pull someone's leg lightly to get a laugh. The three places he could think of? The school's rooftop, the infirmary, and then the cafeteria. The nurse was definitely in right now, so... bad idea. The rooftop could work, but it was expected and was probably better during the afternoon.

"How about the cafeteria and student store?" Shido finally replied.

"OK." Kurumi said, following him as he led the way. Origami watched from a nearby door, staring directly at Kurumi's backside like a hawk gauging its prey before it made its move.

Once the two turned and left her sight, she quickly followed behind to avoid losing them while not exposing she was tailing them either, any students who noticed her just ignored it due to Origami's usual antics not being too different from this. Soon at the cafeteria stand, both Shido and Kurumi were looking at the various bread options.

"A lot of people like the yakisoba bread, it's a cafeteria classic." Shido said before pointing at a different option. "However, my personal recommendation is the Durian bread. Although you'll need to brush your teeth after eating it."

It took a moment, but Shido noticed Kurumi wasn't saying anything, so he turned to look at her.

"Are you even listen-" Shido gasped in surprise when he saw how close her face was to his.

"Sorry, just zoned out for a second. It's hard to concentrate with such a handsome man in front of me." Kurumi said, giving a somewhat flirty look to Shido.

Shido blushed slightly while Origami who had somehow hidden in the nearby janitor locker without either noticing pushed her face closer through the few air holes, only not being caught by the sound due to Kurumi and Shido being too focused on each other at the moment.

'Oh no, I think I may have walked into something more than a small tour...' Shido thought, facing with a dilemma that all people eventually face. The inevitable event of someone like-liking you. While thinking of what to say, Kurumi noticed the stairs were nearby and seeing how flustered Shido already was decided to go for the second strike.

"Hey Shido." Kurumi quickly spoke, getting Shido's attention as she walked up a few steps of the stairs before turning around, and then grabbing her skirt. "Wanna see my panties?"

Shido let out a loud gasp and blushed at the question, not even able to say not to it from how sudden it was. Kurumi slowly lifted up her skirt, teasing him by only using one hand to slowly inch it up further bit by bit, the moment Shido got a glimpse of the bottom of her black panties however...

"Stop! That's good enough, no more!" Shido exclaimed, holding his hand in front of his eyes as Origami hit the locker, trying to force herself out as she discovered she locked herself in. Kurumi giggled at how shy Shido seemed to be, while also mildly surprised he actually stopped her when he did.

"OK... I have a question now. What did you mean by earlier today, you know... when you said you were a Spirit?"

"You don't have to play dumb with me silly. Besides, I already know you that you know all about the Spirits inside and out." Kurumi replied, however... Shido simply tilted his head to her surprise.

"Spirits? As in plural, what are you talking about? Is this one of those role-playing things?" Shido honestly answered, unsure why Kurumi assumed that if she wasn't just joking. Kurumi slightly blinked at that response, it seemed Shido really didn't know anything about the Spirits. "Uh... Kurumi?"

'That's strange, it doesn't seem like he's lying. How is it he doesn't know about the Spirits if he has the power of one inside him?' Kurumi thought, trying to remember her talk with Phantom, seeing if she had forgot or missed something important during their talk. Soon the scene from the day before flooded back into her mind.

* * *

_-Flashback Start-_

"Shido... Itsuka?" Kurumi said surprised by what Phantom had just told her, a human who held the power of a Spirit?

It was the most ridiculous thing she ever heard, but Phantom was a being who knew much more about Spirits than even she did, if it claimed this idea then it was likely Phantom was telling the truth. Even she could admit despite how much she didn't trust the being for its actions, Phantom didn't seem to be the dishonest type either.

"Explain, how could mere human hold the powers of a Spirit?"

" _[Recall 5 years ago when you had been in Tenguu City right as that unnatural fire began? You had to have noticed that a new Spirit had appeared that day, didn't you?]_ " Phantom inquired, Kurumi nodded having remembered gaining time in that area when a sudden fire had broken out without any warning, but just as she sensed a spirit she sensed the same spirit disappear and never come back.

" _[That Spirit didn't actually vanish.]_ "

"Excuse me?" Kurumi questioned, wondering what Phantom was even implying.

While she knew the truth behind what Spirits truly were, for the power of a spirit to disappear entirely meant they had left to the Spirit dimension until they awoke again or came back of their own choice, or they had been killed. The latter was a rarer result as of current times, but still possible.

" _[I was there, and I saw that boy myself. The new Spirit came close to him and gave him a kiss. To my surprise, her Astral Dress vanished along with her powers almost_ _instantly.]_ " Phantom continued, causing Kurumi's eyes to widen a bit.

" _[It was clear she was still a Spirit, but then came the biggest surprise to my eyes. He briefly used one of her powers, he probably never even realized it.]_ "

Kurumi was still in shock to what she had just heard, there was a human who was some sort of parasite to Spirit powers, draining them and leaving the Spirit nearly as powerless as a human would be to her. If what Phantom said was true... all that power was still in him, to gain the power of a Spirit might just be enough to complete her ultimate goal.

"Shido Itsuka..." Kurumi smirked. "I think I should meet this man."

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

As Kurumi's mind came back to reality.

'Now I get it, he never learned the Spirit that he met was a Spirit. I guess I was a bit hasty in my excitement. Not to worry, this isn't a situation that I can't salvage.'

Kurumi giggled a bit to Shido's surprise. "Oh dear, it seems I tried a bit too hard with my little joke. Forgive me. I guess I should just be direct with you." Kurumi slowly steps back down towards Shido. "Ever since I first found out about you, I've been in love and you'd notice me."

Shido blushes more and nearly falls backwards.

'She actually likes me that way, what do I say now? I am very confused!' Shido could only watch as Kurumi got closer and closer to him.

"I'm so happy the two of us are finally alone, it's exactly how I dreamed it would be." Kurumi smiled as she grabbed Shido's hands. "Hey, are you still listening?"

She seems him nod silently, making her smile a bit.

"Now that I've got your attention, I need you to do a favor for me. Think you can handle it?"

Unfortunately for Kurumi, at that moment the locker door finally opened as Origami managed to unlock it with one of her hair pins, though the sudden opening caused her to fall on her face.

"Origami!?" Shido said surprised, wondering how long she had been in there.

"Students are not allowed to hold hands at school, let go of him right now!" Origami declared while pointing at her, hoping to make Kurumi stand down.

Had this been any other girl, then Origami may have been more successful when she did this, but Kurumi was not a normal girl and formed a plan as she noticed the sound of others nearing the hall they were in.

"Oh my, how cute Tobiichi." Kurumi said, closing her eye with a smile. Shido and Origami were confused by this choice of a reaction at first, and once the people walking into the hall were in hearing range, she finally dropped the bomb.

"The fact you're jealous that I told Shido how I felt first, am I right?" Shido and the people nearby all gave gasps of shock, while Origami stared like a jump scare had successfully gotten her.

The three in question, a trio of girls named Ai, Mai and Mii, soon all huddled as they got closer and saw the seen. The blonde-haired girl with a ponytail, Ai spoke up first.

"Whoa... looks like they're fighting over him."

"This is intense! Is this why the transfer student wanted him to show her around, it's love at first sight come to life!" Mai, the short brown haired girl, replied as a follow up.

Finally, the long blue haired girl in glass, Mii, simply said...

"That's so lame!"

Ironically, it was almost always the only thing she'd ever say most of the time. Shido simply stared, his mind having shut down from the entire situation. Origami's hand twitched, realizing what Kurumi had just done, and to her that was a declaration of war.

"Kurumi, meet me by the door to the rooftop, you and I need to have a talk." Origami glared, quickly fast walking over there and trying to not externally reveal her anger. Kurumi sighed at the action before giving a smile at the opportunity she had just given her.

"You'll have to forgive me Shido, but we'll have to end our tour here today. Maybe we can finish it tomorrow." Kurumi giggles as she heads to Origami's set meeting place.

Shido just stood there as Ai, Mai and Mii all walk off the other way and only once his phone rang did he finally wake up. He looked at it to see a reminder about meeting Kotori at Danny's.

"Oh man, I forgot about this! I better hurry before she thinks I forgot about her!" Shido said before running off.

* * *

Kotori waited for her big brother at Danny's, a bit annoyed at how late he was, soon she heard someone panting and turned to see Shido who had completely run out of breath as he stopped by her, struggling to regain his breath enough to even speak.

"You finally came big bro, what took you long anyways?"

"I'm... sorry Kotori, I..." Shido wheezed as he tried to regain his breath. "...my class had a transfer student, she... asked me to show her around."

Shido took a big gulp of air as he finally began to breathe normally.

"I had to run here by the time I realized it."

"It's OK big bro, we're here now so let's eat! Hooray!" Kotori shouted as she jumped up and ran inside, Shido sweatdropped at her energy before slowly walking in after her.

Kotori quickly ordered her Deluxe Kids plate she had been raving over before they left for school this morning, while Shido simply ordered a light salad, his stomach burning too much from his run to handle anything heavy.

"So, what's this transfer student you mentioned like?"

As Shido watched her eat, he thought on how to best describe her.

"Let's see... her name's Kurumi Tokisaki, she's got long black hair in low twin tails. Her eyes are red and... the most notable thing is her hairstyle's asymmetrical, the left side of her being longer, she covers her left eye for some reason too." Shido described before trying to eat his salad, suddenly he heard Kotori cough a bit. "Are you OK!?"

"Yeah, just went down the wrong pipe I guess..." Kotori aid hoarsely, soon standing up. "Give me a second, I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

Once Kotori went inside, she let the panic she had held back sink in.

'Nightmare's enrolled into Shido's class, what's going on? Could this be related to what happened back then? If it is, then my big bro's in danger.' Kotori goes into a stall and soon swaps her white ribbons for black ones before tapping her ear. "This is Commander Kotori speaking, we've got a situation."

* * *

Origami waited at the top of the staircase and soon saw Kurumi slowly come into view.

"Hello Origami, you wanted to see me about something?"

"...Drop the act, I know you're not some ordinary human. Maybe Shido doesn't know but I do. Why blatantly reveal you're a Spirit when the AST could be listening anywhere!?" Origami said staring intensely, Kurumi was indifferent to her face, and Origami actually felt unnerved by this.

She may have never shifted her expression much, but hers was dull, not the kind of expression that would scare someone from constant use because it was a common or natural one.

"So, you're with the AST huh? Ah, I get it, you must have seen my little feeding ground yesterday didn't you?" Kurumi calmly answered, Origami's eyes widened as Kurumi confirmed she was Nightmare.

Origami attempted to pull the emergency Realizer device out, but suddenly a bunch of white hands rose from Kurumi's shadow and grabbed her before pinning her to the wall, one even holding onto her neck.

"What a temper you have, if you know what's good for you..." Kurumi's visible eye has her pupil whiten as it glows. "You'll try to calm down."

Origami would normally never be afraid of a Spirit and just try to attack, but she was immobilized and without any form of defense, she was naked of all her defenses, vulnerable... and because of this the fear she felt from what she had seen when her parents were murdered 5 years ago overshadowed her rage.

"What is this... what are you going to do to me!?" Origami whimpered, unable to even try thinking a way out of the situation from the terror enveloping her mind and heart.

Kurumi smirked as she got closer, and slightly brushed the hair from her left eye, causing Origami's to widen in shock as she saw it was a golden colored clock instead of red like her right eye was.

"You could say I wanted to try out school, and I'll admit it's been a fun experience, but that's not why I'm really here. I'm here for the same reason you are... I crave Shido, but not for love, mine craving is for... my hunger." Kurumi whispered.

Origami's fears grew even more as she said that, while she didn't get what she meant by Shido's power, her words about wanting to eat Shido were enough to finally caused Origami's anger to breech through her fears for a brief moment.

"You scum! Don't you dare touch Shido, or I'll-" Origami's voice was cut off as her throat was suddenly grabbed tightly, choking her.

"Shut up and listen well, because I'm making you an offer you can't refuse if you want to keep living, or want to learn about the fire 5 years ago." Kurumi said darkly, making Origami stare in shock.

"If you know what's good for you, get out of my way and never talk to Shido again, if you tell him anything... I'll make you watch as I devour him, not even giving him the mercy I'm generous enough to grant him."

Origami's eyes nearly form tears, she was being blackmailed into an impossible situation. Kurumi soon began to laugh as her true unhinged self could finally let loose, more of the strange white hands forming from her shadow.

"Soon, very soon I'll devour the power of a Spirit sleeping within Shido's body, and everything I've worked for these last few years will be realized! Nothing can stop me now, not Phantom, and certainly not that bitch who calls herself the First Spirit!"

Origami's eyes widened one last time before she finally felt Kurumi's hold on her make her black out, Kurumi's her last words ringing through her mind. Kurumi drops her before slinking into her shadows and vanishing.

* * *

Shido and Kotori were soon walking home together as the sunsets, and as they did they were discussing dinner plans.

"How about we have burgers tonight?" Shido asked.

"Ooh, that sounds good! Go with that!" Kotori replied excitedly, Shido laughed a bit as they neared the bus stop right as someone got off.

It was a girl around Kotori's age, maybe slightly older or younger, possibly about the same age. She had blue hair like Shido's in a short ponytail, and even brown eyes like him, the only noticeable difference minus her gender was the beauty mark under her left eye.

The girl soon turned, and right as she did she silently gasped upon looking at Shido, who alongside Kotori was only blinking at the scene.

"I don't believe this, it's really you. He was really telling me the truth after all." The girl walked closer to Shido. "Hi."

"Uh... hello?" Shido said, feeling a bit awkward. Though that suddenly changed in a moment as she hugged him.

"Big brother!" The girl exclaimed happily, tears in her eyes.

"HUH!?" Shido and Kotori both shouted simultaneously. Somehow, for some reason unknown to the both of them, this girl hugging Shido... just claimed he was her older brother! Just who was she?

* * *

**And Mana finally makes her appearance and reunites with Shido... at the last scene of the chapter that is. I hope no one expected her to have a larger role during the chapter, I did think to add a bit more, but I felt it was better to end it where I did. This is one of the reasons I'm not sure how many chapters the story will have just yet.**

**Now did anyone think during the scene Kurumi holds Origami hostage that she would blackmail her? I did, so I decided I should totally have her be blackmailed here, and said blackmail fits towards what will make Phantom a bit more prominent in this story. What's Origami to do? Kurumi's made it impossible for her to warn Shido or try to protect him from her, hopefully she can find a loophole soon.**

**How will Mana and Phantom's appearance change things, and how will Shido discover the truth about who and what Kurumi she really? Not to mention, who is this man that told Mana where to find Shido? See you next time in Chapter 3, where the story truly begins and starts to answer all these questions.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, we're finally beginning Chapter 3, and now for one last time I will give my spoiler warning... however unlike Chapter 1 where I said it yet guaranteed a lack of spoilers, and in Chapter 2 where while there was something that was a spoiler, but not very obvious and likely most will assume is just a change for the story... as of this Chapter, there ARE spoilers for Chapter 16, and they're obvious.**

**To define the spoilers' severity without actually revealing them, Volume 16's most notable for finally revealing Kurumi's backstory and motivations. This backstory doesn't just reveal things about her, but indirectly connects to not one, not two, but four different characters through what's shown in it.**

**So if your reading this, but do not want to be spoiled... stop here, or you will be spoiled. If you don't mind spoilers or already know this info, then go ahead and keep reading. Now that we've gotten that cleared up, here's Chapter 3 everyone, and be ready because this story's finally going into overdrive!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Blackened Heart**

"Big brother!"

Shido and Kotori were both standing in place, they were walking home when a girl suddenly calls Shido her big brother, admittedly there were signs that this could be true. The same hair color, the same eyes, Kotori was even sure they had similar looking faces now that she thought about it.

"Wait, hold on here! Big brother? Who are you even?" Shido asked, the girl stopped her hug, giving a somber smile as if she expected to be called a stranger.

"So you really don't remember either." The girl said, catching Shido by surprise for a moment. "My name's Mana Takamiya, you probably don't remember me, but I'm your little sister."

"Wait, don't remember either? Are you saying-" Shido didn't finish as Kotori nudged him.

"Big bro, should we maybe continue talking at home rather than standing on the streets?" Kotori bluntly stated, causing Shido to chuckle embarrassingly.

"Yeah... that's a good point, would you like to come in Mana? Shido asked?

"Sure thing, I was already heading over there anyways." Mana replied, Shido was even more confused after hearing that, while Kotori just blinked as if she began to suddenly piece something together about what was going on. After heading inside, Mana looked around the place excitedly like a dog on sugar, then began shaking Kotori's hand.

"Oh, where are my manners? What's your name?"

"Uh... I'm Kotori Itsuka, and I'm also Shido's sister. Well by adoption at least." Kotori spoke a bit distracted, learning Shido actually had a blood related sibling had thrown her off her usual rhythm due to the unexpected reveal of it.

Not to mention that the head of Ratatoskr hadn't alerted her ahead of time. Sure, he was busy, but he could have at least sent her a message on her phone.

"Wow, so that makes you my sister too?" Mana asked, her eyes sparkling.

Kotori began to sweat as she got overwhelmed by Mana getting a bit too close, she wished she had switched to Commander mode before this, but if she did then Shido would ask questions since he didn't know about Ratatoskr yet. Luckily Shido saved the day for her and pushed them apart a bit.

"Let's settle down a bit, I think we all have some questions to ask." Shido said, suddenly exhausted. The two nodded in agreement and all sat down on the table. "Alright... I guess first you should explain what you meant by you not remembering either. I did lose my memory, so I don't remember my life before I was adopted."

"Oh that? Well for some strange reason I don't remember our parents either, in fact the past is such a blur it's like my memory's been erased." Mana said like it was no big deal, though Shido and Kotori disagreed through their reactions which were filled with shock.

"I can really only remember the last 2-3 years. In fact... this is the only reason I know we're related." Mana takes out a pendant, the sepia toned picture inside shows Shido alongside Mana around maybe a bit more than when Kotori remembered her parents had adopted Shido.

"That's... that's me!" Shido said, clearly able to tell that wasn't just a boy who looked like him despite the lack of defining colors, probably because Mana looked just as similar to her younger self as she did as well. "Just me, nothing about mom or dad?"

"No, I've tried everything, but even searching about my last name didn't give me any clues. The earliest I could recall was you going off somewhere. I was so devastated, but I never gave up trying to find you, and then a week ago... as if my wish was heard a man named Elliot Woodman told me he knew where to find my brother." Mana explained, Kotori finally confirming how Mana had known where to go and to come to their home, it's likely he told their parents already as well.

"Elliot Woodman, who's that?" Shido asked, he had never heard that name before.

"I think I heard mom and dad mention it once, maybe he's part of the company they work for?" Kotori wondered, hoping she made a solid explanation without revealing she knew the man. "I mean if he knew mom and dad, then it makes sense he knows you."

Shido made a thinking face before he nodded, accepting it was the most likely explanation for what was going on.

'Phew... glad we dodged that bullet.' Kotori thought.

"And now, I've finally found you... big brother, I love you!" Mana cried suddenly hugging Shido, and knocking him to the ground to Kotori's shock and panic, this was clearly gonna take some getting used to. That was the first thing Kotori thought...

...Alongside the fact that their furniture might not survive Mana's hugging if they weren't careful.

* * *

As the night came, Kurumi sat on the rooftop of an abandoned building she had chosen as her temporary residence while in Tenguu City.

"How wonderful today was, I'm glad Phantom isn't here so I don't have to publicly thank it for its help." Kurumi said. Suddenly a familiar presence was behind her and she suddenly frowned, wishing she hadn't said those last words.

"[ _What was that about thanking me? Oh, I'm hurt Kurumi, for you to talk about me behind my back._ ]" Phantom said, pretending to feel hurt. It stopped only seconds after when Kurumi held Zafkiel at it. " _[Calm down girl, am I not allowed to make wise cracks or something?]_ "

Phantom sighed before getting closer to her.

" _[So how did it go, did he meet your expectations?]_ "

"Yes, it was just wonderful, who knew someone like that actually existed? Even better is he truly has no clue about what the Spirits are. I won't even need to save up any time, it'll be quick and painless for him as I devour him" Kurumi said, smiling brightly at the thought, distracting her enough that she failed to notice Phantom seeming somewhat troubled by the fact.

"And why are you here exactly?"

" _[I'm curious about the Spirit from back then, I wonder if she even knows what she is either. I only recall she was a red-haired child, such a young one, yet such a powerful connection to Camael despite the crystal's picky standards.]_ " Phantom spoke curiously, unaware of Kurumi gritting her teeth briefly at the mention of the Angel's name.

" _[I seem to have overstayed the time I had spared, I'll be going now. Let's hope our agendas don't interfere with one another's.]_ "

Kurumi coldly looked as the mosaic of noise that was Phantom left her view, soon turning back to the city as the thought of her goal being in her reach filled her head. Meanwhile as Phantom flew somewhere else in the city...

' _[It seems I took too big of a risk. Kotori Itsuka, I hope you can amend my mistake and have Shido stop her... otherwise I've sent Shido to his death.]_ ' Phantom thought somberly. ' _[I may just have to intervene personally if things get too bad, I hope I can avoid that result.]_ '

* * *

The next day, Origami suddenly gasped as she woke up from her sleep, reliving the nightmare of her parents' death once again. One that never went away.

"..." She pants as she feels her forehead, remember her 'talk' with Kurumi and how it ended up with someone finding her and bringing her to the school's infirmary. 'Damn it... what do I do, Nightmare is after Shido and if I try to warn him...'

Origami gritted her teeth, her hair covering her eyes as she cried. The sound of her phone ringing soon entered her ears, and noticed the AST's captain, Ryouko Kusakabe, was calling her. While she felt maybe she should ignore it... if she did nothing Ryouko would just worry and that may not help things, so she answered, but didn't answer.

"Origami, are you OK? Reports have told us that Nightmare is attending your school as a student." It didn't take long for Ryouko to notice Origami's silence. "Origami?"

Ryouko soon heard Origami's labored breaths through the phone, Ryouko didn't need to ask, considering Nightmare's nature this could only meant she encountered the Spirit herself... and either narrowly got away, or Nightmare had toyed with her intentionally.

"Origami, I'm gonna ask you some questions. If I'm right then don't say anything. Did you encounter Nightmare?" Ryouko asked, she only heard silence. "Did she do something to you?"

Once again, silence.

"Are you unable to tell me something, did she threaten you?"

And for the last time, only silence.

"...OK, just try to relax if you can. We'll try to figure this out." Ryouko said before hanging up, hoping she managed to relax the shaken Origami. She turned to one of the AST's staff. "Did you get the info from headquarters?"

"That we did ma'am, that scene was luckily enough that we got permission to see all the files currently existing on Nightmare." Soon they were brought up, showing various things. The name of her Angel, the powers she's shown, her personality and habits even. "There's something else about her that was a scare, apparently Nightmare was..."

Ryouko's eyes widen as he whispered it to her, not wanting the others to hear it.

"Are you kidding me?" Ryouko said shocked, what she had just been told? It didn't just defy normal human logic, but any logic that they could even create for Spirits. "Nightmare is really that much of a monster that not even the wizards DEM have been able to do anything?"

The DEM was the company that helped provided the AST with their Realizers, CR-Units, anything that could combat the spirits... and yet Nightmare shrugged it all, possibly why she gained such a code name.

"We're likely soldiers fighting a tank at this point, but we can't let her keep killing more people either. " The man said, Ryouko could only agree, if they were fighting an unbeatable enemy they had to at least do what they could and hope maybe something would change.

* * *

Shido had come to close like usual, and noticed that Origami wasn't in class.

"That's weird, she seemed fine yesterday. I hope she's alright." Shido mused to himself right as Kurumi took her seat as well. After class began, Tamae took her spot at her stand with a smile on her face.

"Everyone, are you enjoying your second day? Well I am, because today we have a brand-new homeroom assistant teacher!" Tamae smiled, soon motioning the new teacher into class.

Soon what appeared to be a silver haired woman with glasses, dark spots under her eyes, wearing a white lab coat, a pink top with a purple skirt, black stockings and bear slippers. She had a teddy bear in her pocket for some reason, but what Shido noticed most was her necklace with a ring on it. He wasn't sure, but he recalled that some widows do this as a sign that they will never marry another man, so she may have done the same. The only odd part is she seemed to be in her early 20s, so he wasn't sure if she really was a widow, or if it was a fashion choice.

"I'm Reine Murasame, and I'm excited to be here..." Right at that moment, she suddenly fainted making the entire class freak. Kurumi didn't give the same reaction, almost as if she found this woman's presence familiar, and not in a good sense. Reine slowly got back on her feet.

"Sorry about that, I'm dealing with a bit of insomnia as of recently. That happens on occasion."

The class still showed worry, but it was lessened by that comment due to the dark spots she possessed.

'I guess there's even those kinds of people who work at school.' Shido thought, as he sweated a little. Suddenly he noticed his phone get a silent text. What surprised him though was it was sent by Reine and said to meet her in the Physics Preparation room at lunch. 'How did she get my number?'

As Shido quickly turned his phone off before the teacher noticed, Kurumi's eyes motioned towards him, having glimpsed the reaction to his phone.

* * *

Shido soon entered the Physics Preparation room once the lunch bell came, where she saw Reine waiting for him while typing on a computer.

"Oh, good to see you came Shin." Reine said, completely getting Shido's name wrong.

"Uh... well I guess that's not too different from my name." Shido sighed, he didn't really like the fact she got his name wrong, but considering Reine seemed pretty fatigued and fainted in class he let it slide. "So, you wanted to see me about something? How did you know my phone number exactly?"

"Simple, I gave it to her."

Shido blinked as he recognized that voice, and soon saw his little sister Kotori sitting on the chair next to her, though she was wearing black ribbons he remembered giving her as a birthday present a few years ago rather than her usual white ones.

"Be lucky we had Reine be part of the staff to watch you, if things weren't what they were yesterday I'd wonder how you'd do something so stupid Shido." Kotori said irritated, shocking Shido by the lack of the 'big bro' and her attitude, what did those ribbons to do her he wondered?

"What's going on here!?" Shido said, the situation having hit him like a sudden kick on the head.

"If you wanna know, shut up and listen already. Otherwise you'll be in the same trouble as Origami." Kotori said, Shido's eyes widened at that a bit. "That's right, she's not absent cause she's ill. She's absent cause she can't even get near you. If she tried, Kurumi would make both of you regret it."

"Huh? What dod you mean, why would Kurumi-" Shido didn't finish as as Reine brought up a video feed from two days ago. Shido turned to look at it, and soon saw the three guys right as Kurumi formed the white hands to restrain their movements before transforming her outfit and forming two guns. "W-what... what is this?"

Soon she aimed the gun at them, and the scene shifted as the truck drove by, hiding what happened until Shido saw her shadow pull them in, making him hold his mouth to try and not puke.

"...My god, what is this."

"What you just saw was the real Kurumi, as you can see she didn't just kill those guys, the act of pulling them into her shadow? It's the same as eating food to her." Reine said bluntly, turning her chair to face Shido.

"These are the facts Shin, the girl you know as Kurumi Tokisaki? She's not a human being, she's a monster known as a Spirit. Not just any spirit, she's the Worst Spirit, a girl who's taken the lives of ten thousand people, even if they were the scum of Earth like those three had been."

Shido's eyes widened, recalling that the other day Kurumi claimed she was a Spirit.

"She said that yesterday in class, but everyone thought that was a joke. She's really not human?" Shido gasped out, suddenly recalling what she said. "Wait, she thought I knew about them, but... why?"

Kotori's eyes give a sad look, she knew this day would come but she didn't think it was so soon.

"Simple, because you have something she wants, and the reason you have it... I'm partially to blame." Kotori sighed, Shido blinked confused until Kotori stood up and Shido saw some of her clothes gain some kind of light, in fact horns formed as part of her ribbons. "Surprise big bro... she and I aren't that different."

Shido could only stare, his sister had just revealed she wasn't a Human, but a Spirit. Was she also adopted... no, that couldn't be, could it?

"I can tell what you're thinking, and while I don't know about Kurumi, I was definitely human once, but that changed 5 years ago." Kotori explained as she reverted to normal, causing Shido to remember the Tenguu Fire. "For some reason that day, you sealed my powers away, so I lived a normal life. That's all I remember though."

"And that's why we need you Shin, there's a way to stop her and keep her from being hunted down by those who wish to kill the Spirits. You're the key. Like it or not..." Reine said with worry. "...Kurumi's after your power, there's no way to run. So, all you can do is save her before she ends you."

Shido had no idea what was happening, but the brief time he had spent with Kurumi, she had many chances to kill him and didn't.

"...She let me live, there has to be part of her that wasn't lying to me yesterday." Shido muttered to himself. "Alright, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to save her? What do I need to do?"

Reine and Kotori both smile at him, they made the choice they hoped he would.

* * *

Kurumi was stressed out more than she usually was. A strange teacher that felt familiar became a part of their class, and her suspicions failed to die after Shido left during lunch, so right after class ended she walked up to Shido right as he was about to leave.

"Hey Shido, we never got the chance to finish our tour yesterday, do you wanna continue it now?" Kurumi asked, hoping to learn something about why he had vanished during lunch.

"Sorry Kurumi, I can't today. A relative of mine that I was separated from and I met yesterday so I promised to spend the day with her." Shido said, bowing to her slightly as an apology. Kurumi briefly frowned while she couldn't see it, knowing she had to wait before she got any answers.

"Oh, that's unexpected. I can always wait until tomorrow. Who's this relative if I may ask?" Kurumi asked, honestly curious since she was hoping maybe they had a similar ability to Shido in case she may need more power than what Shido would give her.

"She's my younger sister, well by blood that is. Her name's Mana Takamiya-" Shido answered, but suddenly stopped as he heard Kurumi drop her bag, he sweated a bit in worry as he saw her just standing there. "Uh... Kurumi, are you alright?"

After what he had just learned, he honestly didn't think her suddenly reacting like that was natural, though he had a good feeling he wouldn't get any answers.

"...Oh, sorry about that Shido, I think I just got light headed all of a sudden. I'm fine now." Kurumi quickly lied, picking up her bag. "If you'll excuse me, I should probably get home now."

Kurumi quickly left, leaving Shido to wonder how hearing Mana's name affected her, he was sure that Mana had never met her before... just what didn't he know? Soon Kurumi stopped near one of the school wall's and all of a sudden... she punched it hard, making an indent.

"I can't believe it, ever after all this time... she still mocks me over what she did!" Kurumi growled, her face showing nothing but pure anger as her eye glowed slightly. "Not even directly, but through her very name!"

Kurumi literally had to hold in her own Spirit power to avoid being detected or damaging the area. Her visible eye shaking as she remembers that time.

* * *

_-Flashback Start-_

Kurumi was wondering through the realm she had come to know as an alternate world, the first time she had come here was when something had suddenly pulled her to it. She was chased by a shadowy monster and then saved by a girl wearing a dress of light.

This girl told her that monster was known as a Spirit and how they were would be destroyers of the world. Worried about her family and friends, she didn't hesitate when she was offered the power to help fight them.

She had helped the girl destroy many of these monsters, and whenever she was done she would leave until called again where the girl would take care of the Spirits' remains. However, during her attempts to get back home after this time, Kurumi had made a wrong turn and had gotten lost in the dimension.

"How did I mess this up so bad, maybe the fire that last Spirit used affected me more than I thought?" Kurumi winced, recalling the beam of fire that had smashed into her.

"I think I'm on the right track though, I've gone home enough times it shouldn't be too hard to back to my usual route." Kurumi continued on, however soon enough she blushed in embarrassment after realizing she had just ended up finding her mysterious friend back at where she started.

"Oh man, this is embarrassing. Hey, I think I got lost, do you mind helping-" Kurumi's eyes widen as she suddenly stops. The girl suddenly looked behind her as she saw Kurumi, surprised at her still being her.

"Oh, Kurumi? Uh... why are you still-" The girl began, but Kurumi suddenly saw beside her was the body of a dead girl, and a girl she knew well. "Saya... why? Why is she here, why is she dead?"

Soon she notices the red crystal in the girl's hands, and remember the black one she received.

"...No, no no no no. That monster was, it was Saya..." Kurumi falls to her knees. "I killed her, Saya Yamada... I killed my best friend!"

Suddenly she felt a dark force feel like it was trying to grab her, and she felt herself losing. She soon grabbed her Angel and motioned her arms a certain way.

"Zafkiel, Dalet!" She shoots herself, and time rewinds to stop this force in its tracks, surprising the girl. "...You've lied to me all this time, haven't you? The Spirits are humans aren't they!? You made me one too, didn't you!?"

The girl looks away, and soon sighs.

"I must entrust these to Humanity, but they need to be refined and become safe, only multiple hosts can do that through purifying them." Kurumi shook at that with anger. "You said my family and friends would be safe, so why did you give one to Saya!? You used me, you're gonna pay!"

Kurumi flew at the girl, but suddenly found herself struck onto the ground.

"Forgive me, but... please forget everything." The girl says touching Kurumi's face with her hand, making her black out. Hours later, the sound of a gunshot rang out and Kurumi's eyes shook as she her powers restored the memories that had been erased from her mind.

"...I swear to you, I will kill you! I will never let you even come to this world!" Kurumi screamed.

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

Kurumi's angry look had grown to the point of looking murderous, her teeth gritting so hard she'd probably cut her tongue if she had been biting on it.

"I have been waiting years to gather the power I need to finally change everything, finally make you pay for what you did." Kurumi breathed angrily. "I won't let you use me again, not even through your family."

She looks up towards the sky behind her.

"I'll take both of them away from you forever in the present before I murder you in the past, do you hear me... **_Mio Takamiya_**!?"

* * *

**Uh oh, you really stepped on a landmine Shido... no, you pretty much just fired a nuclear missile there. Kurumi's definitely not gonna be as gentle as she intended to be. Well, there you have it, this is why Mana's presence still influenced Kurumi. Now... the nightmare has truly begun.**

**Don't worry, despite Kurumi's anger she's not going to go unhinged and act OOC because of it, it will make her change her plans a bit though. She was intending to have Shido eaten quick and painlessly originally, but now she's not, 'sins of the family' is on her mind and soon even Mana will be a target while Shido tries to quell the rage in her heart.**

**Don't expect any dates from here Shido, because Kurumi's got a vendetta. Hope you enjoyed this chapter because as of this moment, there's plenty of derailing from canon planned, and luckily, I've readied all your seat belts for when we reach Chapter 4.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Before I begin, I wanna appreciate everyone for the support I've gotten so far. It's very little, but I appreciate every review, fave, follow and view that I get on my stories. As you might have noticed I'm not really a novice when it comes to writing, I've done it before but it took a while to do it here because I tried a long fanfic series before and... I can't really talk about it, I'll just say I crashed and that series is gone, I don't even remember what it was other than I even made it.**

**Despite how rusty I am, I feel I've managed to do well since I got even a simple single favorite from my first story, Tohka Surprise. I guess no matter what, I'm a writer, so much I think I've still managed to improve despite my long absence from writing. So, due to all of the support... I'm happy to say once this story's done, expect me to begin one of my two planned full story projects. Once again thank you all for helping me stay awesome.**

**Now for everyone who's managed to make it to this chapter, at this point you've already swam into the spoiler zone, so there's not much else to say. In case your one of the readers who doesn't mind spoilers, at least expect me to point out things that are actually my story choices because I know at least one planned point in my story that isn't a spoiler, it'll be a while before that comes up though.**

**With that done, here's chapter 4, and boy will there be a battle in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: A Nightmare Comes to Life**

"She reacted strangely to hearing Mana's name?" Reine asked, making sure she heard what Shido had just told her correctly.

It had been odd to him on its own, Kurumi suddenly going silent from hearing her name, despite Shido being sure that Mana had no experience with the Spirits or having ever met her... at least he thought that. Kotori had explained to her that he could seal a Spirit by kissing them if they had strong affection, but she wasn't sure how he had that ability, or if Mana had a similar if not the same power.

"Yeah, it was strange. Why would she react to hearing Takamiya?" Shido wondered, he was terrified now, without any knowledge he had possibly pushed not just himself but now Mana into danger. "Then again... Mana said she wasn't able to learn anything about our birth parents. I really don't wanna think they did something, and Kurumi was involved in it, but..."

"Not to worry Shin, I think Kotori and I can at least make sure Mana won't be defenseless." Reine said, putting a hand on his shoulder to help him relax slightly. "Come with me, I think this is the perfect time to show you something we had planned for you to see anyways."

Reine began walking somewhere, Shido had no idea what was going on, but followed anyways since Kotori and Reine clearly knew more about Spirits and ways to handle them, so Reine probably knew what she was doing.

In just moments after they began walking, the two were suddenly transported to another location, surprising Shido as they were in some kinda lab based on what he saw. He hadn't even realized he had walked over a teleporter.

"What just happened Reine?" Shido asked, only for silence to reach him. He looked to see Reine wasn't there anymore to his surprise.

"Big brother?" Shido instantly realized who said that, even after only a day he was able to tell the difference between Mana and Kotori's usual personality calling him their older brother. Kotori would only call him 'big bro' while Mana would call him 'big brother', and he was right as her turned to see Mana looking at him.

"Big brother, where are we exactly? Kotori brought me here and then disappeared. I'm kinda scared."

"I... honestly have no idea, but I guess we should just keep walking forward instead of just standing here." Shido said, Mana stared for a moment before nodding, honestly unsure of what else they could do. They walk for a bit until eventually they find themselves in come kind of control room, a man with long blonde hair noticed their arrival.

"Ah, you must be Shido and Mana. We've been expecting you. I'm Vice-Commander Kyouhei Kannazuki, it's very nice to meet you." The man named Kannazuki greeted, and soon motioned his arm to the right. "I believe you're already familiar with Analyst Murasame and the Commander?"

The two noticed Reine, now in a work outfit, and then in the Commander's chair was...

"Glad you two could make it, so how do you like the ship?" Kotori greeted, in her Commander mode again and with one of her usual Chupa Chups lollipop in her mouth. The two blinked in surprise until Reine removed the filter showing they were high over Tenguu City in a ship.

"This is the Fraxinus, one of the pride and joys of this organization. So, welcome to Ratatoskr."

"Ratatoskr... like the messenger squirrel of Norse myth?" Mana inquired.

"Not bad, you've done your homework Mana. Or did Elliot tell you that one? After all, he did create the whole organization." Kotori stated, catching Mana off guard.

She was surprised to hear the man who helped her find her brother was the leader of some organization, while Shido stared wondering how much Kotori's comment about how the man knew him was true, including the part about his and Kotori's parents.

"Look alive you two, we've got some information you should learn."

* * *

Origami Tobiichi was walking through town, doing some shopping with a somber look on her face, she had to have Ryouko put up an excuse that she had gotten very ill to excuse not attention class until they could figure out something about Nightmare.

"Shido..." Origami somberly sighed, she wish she knew what to do.

" _[Do you want some help?]_ " Origami's eyes suddenly widened at that, she looked around for the source of this strange voice she could hear but not recognize or make out, soon the sight of a waving mosaic from within an alley caught her attention. She followed it and soon the mysterious Phantom made its appearance to her.

" _[Greetings Origami Tobiichi.]_ "

"W-who... who are you? Are you a Spirit!?" Origami said, while normally she'd have attacked instantly. No Spirit had ever shown an ability to cloak themselves, and after what happened with Kurumi she wasn't exactly her usual self at the moment. Phantom turned towards her and walked closer, making Origami back into the wall.

"Get away from me, you hear me? I'll... I'll make you regret if you-"

" _[Wow, just what did Kurumi do to you? You're a complete wreck, nothing like you usually are.]_ " Phantom questioned, and Origami only became more nervous at the being who had somehow learned of their talk and somehow knew more about Origami than she wanted it to.

" _[Well to answer your question, I am indeed a Spirit, but not exactly the same. I cannot tell you my name, but Kurumi has given me the title of Phantom, so you may call me that.]_ "

"...If you know me like you seem to imply, why talk to me? I could attack you at any moment." Origami sweated, trying to not let herself seem pathetic to the Spirit before her.

" _[You seek the Spirit who killed your parents 5 years ago, correct? What if I told you I saw the Spirit that did the deed?]_ " Phantom revealed, making Origami gasp. " _[I thought so, then I must tell you to give up on seeking the Flame Spirit, your chasing your tail trying to find Efreet.]_ "

Origami stared at her like she was crazy, she knew the fire from that day, Efreet had to-

" _[The Spirit that killed your parents wasn't one of fire, true they were burned... but what burned them wasn't a fire or even heat.]_ "

"What?" Origami said surprised.

" _[That's right, the Spirit your looking for doesn't use fire. I don't believe your little group knows who this Spirit is yet unfortunately. Even then, I can't tell you where to find her, or even 'when' to find her.]_ " Phantom continued, noticing Origami's eye raising at her usage of when.

" _[You saw it didn't you, Kurumi's left eye? Tell me, do you honestly believe that she has that for show?]_ "

Origami blinked, and then realized what Phantom was implying, a clock for an eye, and a Spirit that was unknown not by where it had gone, but when it would return.

"Kurumi... has power over time? Are you telling me she sent that Spirit to the future?" Phantom shook her head.

" _[Kurumi doesn't have the power to change what's yet to be, you've got it backwards. She sent this Spirit to the past, I remember the scuffle she had started with me, and as I fled her presence vanished. She likely won't appear for some time.]_ " Phantom finished, soon beginning to walk off.

" _[Oh, and you don't believe me, there's another reason trying to kill Efreet will only hurt you.]_ "

Origami scowled a bit, this Spirit seemed like she was making her with the fact she knew so much more about things she had struggled to get answers to. "Oh really, and just what is that!?"

" _[Efreet's name from when she was still a normal human is Kotori Itsuka, I think she's the little sister of the boy you like?]_ " Phantom said bluntly, making Origami freeze in place. " _[Oh good, you actually listened. Now that you have, let me tell you something...]_ "

Phantom rushed back and got directly into Origami's face.

" _[If you ever hurt Shido, including emotionally... I'll make suffer that you'll want death is a mercy.]_ "

Origami stumbled to the group and panting as Phantom disappeared.

" _[Oh, and Kurumi's blackmail? It's useless now. She found something that's made her change her plans with Shido, I'd be ready cause she's not willing to give Shido a gentle death anymore.]_ " Origami trembled. Kurumi had been terrifying, but this Phantom hadn't even used more than words to subdue her.

"..." Origami stood there for a moment, and then grabbed her phone. "Sergent Origami reporting, I have vital intel to share... urgency level red."

Phantom soon reappeared in the stall to a bathroom, taking a deep breath, it removed its mosaic cover and took it's true form before soon glowing as it shifted into something out. Walking out of the stall to reveal it was the girl's bathroom was none other than Reine Murasame.

"...I've gambled too much already, and now it's coming back to haunt me. I can only bet on your success now, Shido." Reine said, her hand unconsciously reaching the damaged bear she always held close. As she walked off, she didn't notice the familiar shadow that had been nearby.

* * *

Kurumi was walking across the street, her anger no longer showing externally on her face, but internally it hadn't even died out in the slightest. After walking into an alley way, Kurumi rose her hand as her Astral Dress formed around her. Her shadow stretched and pulled something in, soon revealing a bit of information.

"So, this is why you knew of Shido. This was your real agenda Phantom, well... I'm sorry to say, but I'm not gonna play your game this time." Kurumi smirked in a sinister manner.

Kurumi closed her palm tightly, and suddenly everyone heard a familiar alarm go off as Kurumi cruelly smirked out of view.

**[WARNING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THERE HAVE BEEN PRECURSORY SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING SPATIAL QUAKE!]**

Kurumi laughs as she saw everyone running for their lives to reach the shelters, none of them even aware that that there wasn't even an actual quake coming... at least not yet.

"I could easily set it off before any of you got to safety, but right now I'm in the mood to have some fun ruining everyone's good times that aren't my own." Kurumi laughs again, knowing the AST would soon be arriving. "I only planned for one meal, but now... I have a full course meal and four savory dishes waiting."

Kurumi licks her lips as she thought of her four targets, Shido, Mana, Kotori... and Phantom herself. She walks into view of the empty streets as the AST arrives, cackling insanely.

"Oh, well if isn't the AST, so glad you answered my invitation. I was wondering if you'd even come for a false quake." All of the AST readied themselves, unlike other Spirits they had to be smart with Nightmare and couldn't just instantly fire like usual. Origami soon flew in front as she cut off Kurumi's hand.

"Oh, well if isn't little Origami. Think you can challenge me now that you can actually fight back?"

"Give it up Kurumi! It's time for you to die, and I'm the one that's going to kill you!" Origami shouted, Kurumi laughs at that.

"Kill me? Is that what you think just cause of a flesh wound, well... sorry. You'll just need to accept I won't die and all of you won't live! **ZAFKIEL!** " Kurumi raises her remaining hand as one of Zafkiel's guns forms in it, she aims it at herself as a clock forms behind her. "Dalet."

Black spirit mana enters Zafkiel from the IV on the clock, and Kurumi shoots herself. Suddenly, Kurumi's cut off hand flew back on as if Origami failed to even cut it.

"She can heal herself!?" One of the AST members shouted in shock.

"I'm not healing at all, I'm simply turning back the clock." Kurumi laughs before posing, Zafkiel's second gun forming in her hand. "So I dare you all, see if you can fight time itself, because you're looking at the one being in this world who can bend it to her will. Now how about we have some 'spirited' competition!?"

Kurumi watched as some AST members rushed at her, hoping to stop her before she could fire again, Kurumi simply posed so her hands aimed at the XII and I on the clock.

"Aleph!"

Kurumi fired and suddenly vanished from the spot she was in, giving a crazed look as she appears at the side of one of the said charging AST girls and fires at her leg, soon she vanished and reappeared again doing the same to the other girls, changing where she aimed each time but never hitting a vital spot just to torment the girls.

"Zayin."

Kurumi positions one of her arms at the VII, but instead of shooting herself shoots one of the girls flying at her.

"But how?" The girl said shocked, suddenly frozen in time right after. Kurumi floated in front of her and shot her arms and legs once each. Soon the girl fell, still alive but barely able to move. "Run away... don't get any closer to her."

Origami stared in shock, each number of the clock had a separate power and name, and Kurumi had only revealed three of them. Soon she saw Kurumi zoom at her.

"Is this really the best you can do!?" Kurumi said swinging Zafkiel at Kurumi, who could only block with her sword. "I have to say I'm unimpressed! You call yourself a team that can handle any spirit, surely you can at least land a hit on me, can't you? Oh well, guess not!"

Kurumi swung again before Origami jumped a good distance away.

"Here's a thought, stop talking! Maybe you'll be cuter if you keep your mouth shut!" Origami said firing at Kurumi who simply swayed out of the way. "Besides, you're still outnumbered! You can't keep this up forever!"

"Well, I think you'd look cuter with your head mounted on my wall!" Kurumi snarked in reply, before laughing a bit. "And I'm alone? Well, you've probably heard the rumor I've been killed once before, haven't you? Well maybe you should look below you."

Kurumi motions to the VIII.

"Het."

Kurumi shoots herself, and soon her shadow expands, all of the AST members still in fighting condition looked in horror.

"My god... it can't be!" Ryouko said in horror. From her shadow, multiple copies of Kurumi suddenly formed from the ground, all sharing her expression. "She can clone herself?"

"Clone is such a degrading term, what you see here is my history. My literal shadows of my past." Kurumi giggles pridefully. "Now do you see why I can never be killed? You can't destroy someone's shadow, and as long as I hide behind them, I'm effectively immortal."

Kurumi moves her hand to the V on the clock.

"Hei."

Kurumi shots herself, and gets a vision of Origami trying to toss a building fragment at her.

"You're not hiding now, so say your prayers! Get ready to die!" Origami screamed as she used her territory to toss part of a building at her. Kurumi simply smirked at her before posing at the III.

"Gimmel." Kurumi fires at the building, and it ages quickly until it becomes dust harmlessly flying by her. Origami stared in shock. It was like Kurumi had a counter for everything they could throw at her. The remaining members and Ryouko all tried to rush her at once, but Kurumi smirked cruelly as she aimed at the 2.

"Bet."

Suddenly she shot them all, slowing them down before aiming at the I again.

"Aleph!"

This time however, Kurumi fired at her clones and they vanished, soon grabbing and constricting everyone, Origami soon felt the white hands of another clone hiding in Kurumi's shadow constrict her.

"No, this can't... this can't be!" Origami gasped.

"There you go, I've beaten all of you. You shouldn't have gotten your hopes up. So sorry, but... now that you can't play with me anymore I have something else I need to do." Kurumi smirks before raising her hand, along with her clones who were able to restrain the AST members with just one hand, suddenly the spatial quake alarm goes off as the ripples signifying a quake manifest in multiple areas.

"No! You can't, stop this!" Ryouko shouted, recalling from Nightmare's files that Kurumi's appearances in the world could never be truly detected because she had apparently learned to summon spatial quakes of her own volition, and therefore hide and trick anyone attempting to look for her.

"You don't get to request anything to me! Now, prepared to be surrounded by so much death and destruction in your final moments before I devour all of you!" Kurumi replied before laughing again, everyone but Origami soon blacking out from the clones' holds on them as Kurumi was about to set off the quake. "Goodbye Tenguu City!"

Kurumi prepared to open her hand and set them all off when...

"KURUMI!" Suddenly Kurumi stopped in place and tightened her fist, suddenly stopping the quakes. Kurumi turned and smirked as she saw one of the people she was searching for, Shido Itsuka. He could only stare at the sight, the destruction and what Kurumi had nearly caused. "Kurumi... Why?"

"You finally came Shido." Kurumi said, giving a disturbing smile towards him before he was grabbed by another of the clones in her shadow. "Now why don't we put a stop to this tediousness already?"

Kurumi holds Zafkiel to her head again.

"Aleph."

Origami panics as Kurumi rushed forward and suddenly grabbed Shido, causing them to disappear before the hands holding her released her and she fell to the ground. She looked at her fellow AST defeated and then where Shido had been moments prior. She held her head with her hands before she suddenly screamed.

_"SHIDO!"_

* * *

**Now that's how you make Kurumi completely crush the AST in a fight, the poor girls never had the chance against her when she was serious and using her clones. I honestly wish all of Kurumi's bullets were able to be used in a fight, but I'll have to wait until the situations let me use the rest, Yud Bet being the exception that is.**

**You might be wondering why Shido suddenly just appeared at the end out of nowhere, to explain that a bit, I had intended to add a scene adding Shido there, but it felt forced, so I decided Chapter 5 will start by showing how Shido ended up there. Basically, we'll see Ratatoskr's point of view and then what comes afterwards.**

**Phantom's finally stepping in a bit more, actually having the guts to stand before Origami and talk to her, how much Origami will actually believe her words? Not to mention that Phantom wasn't careful, and now Kurumi knows who she is... so how will that effect what she'll do now that she's got Shido in her grasp?**

**Be ready to see where this goes in Chapter 5, where we see Shido's side of the events and if he can actually escape the nightmare of Kurumi Tokisaki, while trying to understand what he should do.**


	5. Chapter 5

**We're finally beginning Chapter 5, and this is the point where Kurumi and Shido alone won't be important anymore, due to last chapter's events Phantom gained more prominence and from here it's gonna fully settle. Mana herself will finally step out of the shadows the last four chapters had kept her in, even Kotori's gonna step in now, though not as much due to her role as Fraxinus' commander.**

**Like I said at the end of Chapter 4, this chapter begins showing how Shido and the Fraxinus crew saw things right as the spatial quake alarm went off, a scene I had intended to add back then but didn't because I felt it would be too forced. It won't be long until we get to where Chapter 4 ended with where Chapter 5 starts, so it won't take most of the chapter.**

**I still don't know where the story will end yet, but I can say with certainty that we're getting close to the climax. This is also where Shido and Kurumi's feelings will actually begin to develop, slowly but surely, so if you thought the romance was a bit slow it's going to start picking up soon.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: A Dark Truth**

Shido and Mana were both still trying to have the info they learned sink in, the fact Spirits were behind spatial quakes, the various pictures of other Spirits they saw, and most of all about the AST that had the job of hunting them down and killing them.

It was already shocking to Shido that Origami was a member which may have explained her absence due to Kurumi, but was was scary to Shido at least? How much influence did the AST have in making Kurumi the way she was now. Unfortunately, he had little time to think as the ship suddenly had a alarm go off, mentioning a spatial quake had been detecting.

"A spatial quake, which Spirit's appearing right now!?" Mana asked, worried about if they'd need to deal with another spirit aside from Kurumi who was already a lot to handle by herself. Reine soon walked in from another room, having had to leave for a brief moment.

"This isn't the appearance of a new Spirit, I think you've noticed the signs already Commander?" Reine said, turning to Kotori.

The red headed Commander looked at Reine for a moment before turning back to the monitor, seeing no reaction from Reine she continued.

"Yeah, this is the work of Kurumi." Kotori answered, soon bringing up some information about her. "Kurumi's the most dangerous Spirit so far, she's an S-Ranked spirit who's known for being the hardest Spirit to encounter. We don't know how... but she has full control of the summoning of her spatial quakes."

"Control? Wait, are you saying she can create them by will?" Shido asked surprised, having already been shocked to learn the Spirits made them by simply appearing in the world. Kotori however had claimed that they didn't seem to have a choice when they happened having become a Spirit herself.

For one to have control and choosing to make one? ...It worried him.

"Exactly what it sounds like Shido, but I don't think she's causing a quake. She's attracting flies and just put out the honey." Kotori stated, knowing just who Kurumi wanted to get the attention of. It didn't take long before the AST arrived. "There they are, the AST's fallen for her bait."

The group watched the fight begin, and soon came the moment Kurumi summoned her Angel and reattached her hand.

"What!?" Kotori stared at what Kurumi had done, catching Shido and Mana's attention as they noticed no one in the room seemed familiar with this.

"An amputated limb flew back like it was never cut off, she accelerated her movement it was like she disappeared or teleported, and then she stopped everyone in place... there's no doubt about it. It seems Kurumi Tokisaki doesn't just control the power of shadow, but the power of time and multiple ways to bend it to her will." Reine blankly stated, not showing the surprise everyone else did, Kotori's eyes shifted at this.

"...I can't watch this anymore!" Shido said before running towards one of the ship teleporters.

"Shido, wait!" Kotori called out, but she was too late. She soon looked at Mana. "Mana, I need you to do me a favor. Otherwise... we might not see Shido again."

Mana blinked at the morbid response, but seeing Kotori looking shaken... she trusted Kotori may know a way to keep him safe.

"OK, what do you need from me?" Mana asked. However, her answer came when she heard Kotori stutter in horror, and soon saw the same image on the screen. "...Kotori, whatever you need me to do, better tell me quick!"

"Uh... right, head down the left hall and enter the third door on the right. There's something in there you can use to protect Shido." Kotori said, hoping they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Shido soon beamed by an alley near the fight, and saw where Kurumi was. At that moment, he gathered all the air he could into his lungs and shouted. "KURUMI!"

Luckily, he saw the spatial quakes stop as Kurumi and Origami looked at him.

"Kurumi... why?" He asked, unable to believe she really did all this after the short time he had gotten to know her, that the Kurumi he had gotten to know was just a fake.

"You finally came Shido." Kurumi said, giving a disturbing smile towards him before he was grabbed by one of the clones in her shadow. "Now why don't we put a stop to this tediousness already?"

Kurumi holds Zafkiel to her head.

"Aleph."

Kurumi rushed forward and suddenly grabbed Shido, soon disappearing from the area before Shido found himself dropped in the forest, more of Kurumi's shadow hands grabbing him.

"Now I've got you." Kurumi smirked, licking her lips, soon however she heard a kitten in pain and saw four guys nearby, giving a hateful glare. "Excuse me for a moment Shido."

Shido could only watch as she got near them in her human disguise, and asked if she could join. However it didn't take long for her to suggest a change of targets and having the four guys be the ones that were shot at. He was forced to watch as one by one they were killed, until only one guy was left.

"No please, stop... I'll leave the cat alone. I'll change. Please, this won't happen again... please don't kill me!" The surviving guy begged in fear.

Kurumi only frowned, either hating his cowardice or finding his words hollow and just mere lies.

"You tried to kill something without being ready to be killed yourself, doesn't that seem odd to you? It was helpless. Now you are helpless, and you're not getting away just like you didn't let it." Kurumi coldly stated before firing, Shido could only scream at the sight before the man's dead body vanished with the other three as Kurumi ate them via her shadows.

"Now how did you like looking down the barrel of a gun? Forgive me for my finger slip, oh wait... you're not alive anymore to hear it." Kurumi smirked before turning to Shido, giving a look that Shido could only describe as cold and cruel.

"Don't think too badly of me Shido, if you want someone to blame, then blame her for what she did and for your connection to her."

Shido only stared, confused by what she was even talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Shido asked in fear.

"Oh, should I maybe explain it to you as a last request? It wouldn't be too hard through my Sixth, Ninth and Tenth Bullets... but then again, should I even give you that right? I'm not sure anymore how honest you're really being." Shido's face contorted with fear as if the Grim Reaper was about to execute him... but suddenly Kurumi was suddenly knocked into a tree by something.

"What the hell? Who did that!?"

"Are you alright big brother?" Shido looked to see Mana in a suit similar to the ones worn by the AST, but hers was white and blue and have different weapons like a custom model. Seeing his confused look. "I'll tell you the full story later, for now I'll just say that Kotori gave me a way to defend you."

Mana explained. Kurumi got back up quickly, and noticing the similar appearance her face showed anger, realizing who she was.

"So... you're Mana Takamiya, guilty of the same as your brother because of that girl." Kurumi stated angrily, confusing Mana for the same reasons as Shido. "Get ready to meet the same end!"

Kurumi prepared to use one of Zafkiel's bullets, but Mana didn't give her the chance as her suit's weapons shifted and shot out some kind of threads that struck the Time Spirit through her abdomen, causing her to be frozen in place.

"Special nerve threads, it's not permanent but that should paralyze you for a while-" Mana gasped between her words as Kurumi gave a dark smirk and quickly regained her movement. "No way, you shouldn't be able to move again yet!"

"You think I'm a stranger to pain? My clones have made me experience it and death countless times, by this point... I'm used to tricks like that. So, nice try... not!" Kurumi laughed before she aimed Zafkiel at her head.

"Aleph."

Kurumi zoomed at the two siblings, but before she could, an axe suddenly struck in front of her, making her need to move out of the way as a familiar figure stood before her.

"...Well, if it isn't Kotori Itsuka." Kurumi smirked.

Kotori picked Camael back from the ground, her Limited Astral Dress glowing as she stared at Kurumi.

"If you want an opponent who can actually fight back against you, then how about you take me on!?" Kotori yelled, Kurumi smirked as she chuckled at the claim. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. I already know your surprises."

"Oh, and why's that? I don't think I've shown you every trick on my book just yet." Kurumi challenged.

Kotori smirks at that, preparing to drop the bomb she had prepared.

"Don't think I need to, I've figured out a good weakness of yours to exploit. It's not too hard when I get a few spoilers from Phantom." Kotori said, causing Kurumi to gasp in horror that she had even been able to talk with the enigmatic Spirit, while Shido and Mana wondered who Phantom even was.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good time for a talk between us, Shin's life is in danger right now." Reine asked Kotori, right after Mana left, the red-haired Commander had asked Reine to talk with her alone in the right hallway.

Kotori knew the danger, but felt there was something else that was threatening Shido without realizing it... and it stood right before her. Reine blinked as Kotori didn't immediately answer.

"...Is something wrong?"

"Drop the act, I know." Kotori bluntly stated, making Reine blink. "You've let Kurumi's appearance shake you up. I may not remember much, but I remember what I saw in that video feed... Phantom."

Reine slightly shifted, surprised she had been caught.

"I knew it, you really are the one who made me a Spirit 5 years ago." Reine stayed silent, unsure of how to respond to Kotori discovering her secret. "Why, why did you make me a Spirit all those years ago? Why hide what you are? Just what are you doing."

"...What would you do if I told you?" Reine asked, unsure of what trust she had left with Kotori.

"I'd try to understand, you've been helping us protect the Spirits all this time, I doubt you aren't trying to help them somehow if that's the case." Kotori asked. "I'll be honest, despite how it seems... I am incredibly mad at what you did 5 years ago, but right now my big bro's life is at risk."

Reine blinked and then sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell you. It's because..." Reine whispered it to Kotori and her eyes widened. "I'll explain better when Shido's out of danger. For now, you should go help him. I can tell you how to deal with some of the powers Kurumi has."

"But we don't have that kind of time, I have to-" Kotori was stopped mid-sentence as Reine tapped her hand, restoring her memory of 5 years ago and adding information about Kurumi into her mind. "...OK, maybe we do have the time."

Kotori summoned her Limited Astral Dress and prepared to head to the teleporters, before she used it she looked at Reine.

"...Just know, even if I don't agree with all the choices you made, I'm glad you're on our side watching out for us."

Reine looked at Kotori teleported away.

"...I already know the consequences of my choices, I can only hope that I can truly clean up and amend them before it's too late." Reine said to herself. "Good luck Kotori."

* * *

Kurumi gritted her teeth. "Damn it, that Phantom... always a thorn in my side! I'll teach you!" Kurumi holds out Zafkiel.

"Zayin!"

Kurumi fired and froze Kurumi in time before her and some of her clones shot at her, and then she shot at Kotori's head as time resumed for her.

"KOTORI!" Shido and Mana both screamed out,

Kurumi smirked, but soon she gasped along with Shido and Mana as Kotori's body burns and she gets back up still alive.

"Is that all you've got, because if cheap shots are all you've got then you've already lost this fight."

"Not in your wildest dreams flame girl!" Kurumi growled before posing again.

"Aleph!"

Kurumi shot her clones before shooting herself, causing them to rush Kotori's siblings, she gasped before pushed them away and being piled on herself. "How noble, noble and incredibly stupid. Now I can drag you down to eat you!" Kurumi prepared to have her shadow drag Kotori in to devour her.

"Cut her to pieces... **CAMAEL**!" Kotori swung her axe, shredding the clones apart while hitting the real Kurumi with some of the flames.

"Damn you, you little pest! Dalet!" Kurumi shotus before firing at herself to heal the damage she received. "I promise you this, you'll be sorry you ever decided to mess with me! Now... **ZAFKIEL** -"

Kurumi posed at the XI on her clock, ready to reveal her Eleventh Bullet on Kotori.

"I don't think so, time to end this!" Kotori smirked raising Camael into the air. "Camael... **MEGIDDO**!"

Soon Kotori's Angel morphed from an axe into a cannon, and it drew in fire before Kotori point it at Kurumi directly. Kotori purposely gave a sadistic looking smirk, and to the surprise of everyone else, Kurumi's bullet failed to charge as she suddenly stepped back at the sight.

'Saya...?' Kurumi thought as she had a slight panic attack, her eyes seeing someone else standing in Kotori's place, with even scarier looking face of satisfaction plastered on her. "Come to me immediately!"

Kurumi's clones all move in front of her. Hoping the charge would stop, but it didn't, making her even more shaken up.

'No, don't... please Saya. I'm sorry!' Kurumi thought again, unable to move.

"Turn them all to ashes, do it Camael!" Kotori screamed before firing a beam of fire at Kurumi, all of the clones defending her were incinerated, while the real Kurumi survived only to collapse to her knees. 'Alright, that's good enough.' Kotori thought. "Shido, Mana, we're gonna retreat now! Come on!"

Shido only stared while Mana nodded, grabbing him before the two rushed off. Kurumi could only weakly look at them before gritting her teeth heavily.

"This... isn't over, you'll pay... all of you!" Kurumi panted before sinking into her shadow, retreating for today. One she finally reached her temporary residence and sat down.

_"Kurumi... why?" Shido's voice echoed._

Kurumi's face suddenly gave a somber look, not even realizing she took on her school appearance.

"I don't know... why? All I know is it's too late to go back, for my goals to have a noble cause." Kurumi lowered her head before soon slumped down on what she used as her bed and fell asleep, not even realizing what she'd say in her sleep next. "...Shido."

* * *

Shido, Mana and Kotori finally made it back onto the Fraxinus, Kotori dispelling her Limited Astral Dress as she turns to her big brother.

"We're glad your safe." Kotori quickly replied, soon taking him to the medical wing after noticing a small injury on his hand.

"Was I... were we doing the right the right thing?" Shido suddenly said, getting Kotori's attention. Normally she'd replied in Commander mode, but due to the situation she swapped to her white ones and listened.

"Spirits don't cause spatial quakes on purpose, they don't want to hurt others... that's what I wanted to believe from what you told me. I honestly wanted to believe that."

"Big bro..." Kotori said, now worried abuot what he'd say next.

"...but that's not Kurumi at all. She killed intentionally, and she enjoyed it. She used spatial quakes just as a sick joke to accomplish her goals." Shido said, his body shaking. "I can't do this!" Shido ran out, and Kotori tried to reach out and stop him. Soon she could only look down in the floor and soon noticed Reine come in.

"Reine?" Kotori said, soon noticing Reine put her hand to the wall and lower her head, while she didn't hear any sound from her mouth, she quickly noticed Reine crying as tears fell to the ground from her eyes.

'Everything I've done, all of it led to this. What should have I done differently? What should I have done... to prevent this from happening?' Reine thought to herself, Kotori not even able to bring herself to help give Reine closure, knowing exactly why she'd be unable to do a thing.

* * *

Shido slowly walked back home, and once he arrived he saw Mana waiting there for him, she turned once she noticed him.

"Hey... is your arm feeling any better?" Mana asked, even though she knew it was probably dumb and obvious how Shido was feeling.

"Yeah... it's fine now." Shido lied, figuring the mood shouldn't get brought down any lower.

"I see, then we can go now." Mana said, grabbing his good hand. When he looked at her to ask what she mean, she simply smiled and answered. "You promised we could hang out today, remember? The day's still not over yet."

Mana soon dragged Shido as they headed back into town. Their time together mostly consisted of buying some food and then visiting places like the arcade.

"Kotori told me about what you said, about Kurumi and... about Phantom, or rather Reine." Mana suddenly said.

Shido looked at her in surprise.

"I'll explain that last bit later, but... I know what you told her." Shido gave a somber smile, the night having come by as they stopped by the lookout on the way home.

"I see... then you know how I feel." Shido answered sadly. "I thought I could stop Kurumi, but... now I don't think I can. I mean, Kurumi's different from everyone, both in what she is and how she acts. So I-"

Suddenly Shido stopped as Mana cupped his face and shook her head.

"Now that isn't true and you know it." Mana stated simply, soon letting go of Shido's face before holding onto his hand. "Kurumi's no different from Kotori... or from me."

Shido stared at Mana said that, shocked she'd make such a claim.

"Don't you remember how Kotori became a Spirit herself? I don't know if Kurumi's the same, or if all Spirits have the same story, but... I know she had you here for her."

Shido remembers how Kotori had been for a while after the Tenguu Fire, how much she had needed his support. It was no different than why he had bought her black ribbons before that day, he wanted her to feel strong when she wore them.

"You see big brother? You saved her, she didn't know she needed you, but she did. Then you showed her amazing the world was despite all of that." Mana looks out at the town. "And..."

Shido blinks as Mana suddenly stops. "Mana?"

"If it wasn't for you, Kotori would have ended up just like Kurumi, no... both her and I would have. Right now, I bet all those other Spirits are walking down that same road every moment. Don't you see? There's only one difference between Humanity and the Spirits, and that difference..." Mana continues, holding Shido's hand tighter.

"Is that they're waiting for someone close to reach out his hand."

Shido gasped, and remembers when he first met Kurumi, the part of her... it had to have been real. He just had to make her remember.

"...Thank you Mana, thanks to you I've remembered what's important. I'll admit I'm still afraid though." Shido replied.

"Don't worry, even if you're scared, me and Kotori are here to protect you." Mana smiled. "As you save Kurumi... and every other spirit out there waiting for you."

The two siblings stayed there a while longer, unaware a disguised Kotori and Reine were watching from afar.

"...Still think you made the wrong choice Reine?" Kotori said, silently thanking Mana for helping Shido.

"I don't know, but..." Reine said looking at the two closely. "All we can do is move forward. So all I can do is do the same, but this time not on my own."

Kotori smirks at that answer.

'And you're the one who taught me that Kotori, so thank you.' Reine thought.

* * *

**Oh man... *sniffles* I don't know why, but whenever I write a scene that's sad or heartwarming, like with the last scene, it makes me cry. Still, I honestly love that scene when Tohka helps Shido regain his confidence due to the message behind it. Not to mention it was strong foreshadowing to Vol 16, where we see just how right Tohka had been.**

**Well, Mana's finally a wizard, though she doesn't have proper training yet. While she is wearing the Murakumo like in canon, the suit's had its weapons changed to be non-lethal weaponry like everything the Fraxinus used against the AST in Episode 6 of the first season, the exception being her swords which she hasn't used yet, but will later.**

**Now some of you might ask me why did I have Kurumi shrug off her paralysis so fast? Well, I read something once that Kurumi's clones feel the same things as her, including the deaths Mana gives her. Considering how Kurumi doesn't seem to be bothered by it and doesn't show any masochistic tendencies, I'm thinking she's just used to pain, add the fact she's a spirit and I feel she could quickly shake of a temporary paralysis. At least that's my opinion.**

**This story's about to begin its final leg, so get ready as Kurumi and Shido make their next and possibly final moves in this game between the two of them.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, things are gonna be a bit different in this chapter. As you might notice from the chapter's name being "Abyss of Memories", Shido is finally going to see Kurumi's past firsthand. Not to worry, this chapter won't be entirely Shido seeing her past memories.**

**Reine will finally stand face to face with Kurumi, and Kotori and Mana are gonna have a talk that's gonna really drop a bomb on things. *giggles in anticipation* I'm starting to think I may eventually need to make the stories of this series into full ones later on depending on my ideas in them, cause I think this story has given me a great place for a sequel.**

**With all of that explained, now it's time to start Chapter 6.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Abyss of Memories**

Morning came as Shido walked into Raizen High, Shido put his shoes in his locker as she switched to his pair of school shoes. As he closed his locker he noticed Origami to his right.

"Origami, glad to see your finally back." Shido smiled a bit, it seemed whatever had forced her to stay away wasn't troubling her anymore. Origami looked at him oddly, shifting her focus away and back for a bit. "...Origami?"

"...Shido, about why I wasn't here. It was-" Origami tried to say, but couldn't bring herself to. Luckily, she didn't need to.

"Let me guess, it had to do with something between you and Kurumi?" Shido said, surprising Origami. "Considering how she kinda kidnapped me yesterday, I kinda figured it was something related. My guess it's when you were talking with her alone the other day."

Origami stared at Shido about before she nodded.

"Yeah, I knew the truth since then... but if I got close or told you she threatened the worst. I'm only able to be here now because you know." Origami said, she breathed deeply before continuing. "Shido, you know that-"

"Don't worry, I'll stop her." Origami stared at Shido as he said that. "Just trust me, I know she's after me, but while I'm still standing I intend to stop the cycle she's began. I promise that."

Origami wanted to call him crazy... but his look relaxed her, almost told her that she could believe in him. With the trouble Kurumi posed, and the fact he was going to be targeted regardless, she realized she had to try putting some faith in him.

"...Just be careful, OK?" Origami asked, and Shido nodded before she walked off towards class.

Shido soon began heading over himself, and as he did, he was suddenly stopped as Kurumi walked before him giving him a blank look before smiling to keep face since they were in school.

"Well good morning Shido, how are you today?" Kurumi said, Shido only starring at her. "I have to admit I'm a little surprised, I thought for sure you wouldn't want to come to school today after that crazy drama. Either you're really brave, or just incredibly stupid."

"...Kurumi." Shido said, catching her attention by his sudden tone of seriousness. "I've made my decision, and I'm going to save you."

Kurumi's face contorts to one of surprise and shock, specifically over the word 'save', Shido soon continued knowing she wasn't going to say anything for a while.

"I won't let you kill anyone else, or let others try to kill you." Shido watched to see how she'd react to that, and soon Kurumi gave him a fierce scowl.

"...Just like I thought, you're not different from that woman." Kurumi said, surprising Shido. "I didn't think I should show you yesterday, but I think you need to let reality sink in, and this is how I'm going to do it."

Having her clones make sure no one was nearby to see it, Kurumi summons Zafkiel alone with its clock as she aims at the VI.

"Vav."

Then at the IX.

"Tet."

And finally, the X.

"Yud."

Shido suddenly feels all three bullets hit him while Kurumi aims one at herself, and Shido feels his consciousness suddenly go somewhere else as in that brief moment in reality he began to experience a lifetime.

* * *

Shido soon found himself in some kind of city, he looked around confused as he saw everyone walk by.

"Um... excuse me, but where am I?" Shido asked, he got no response and soon noticed someone phase behind him and walk right through him, like he was just a ghost. "What? How did that... what just happened?"

" _You didn't teleport anywhere Shido, in fact it's not where you are, but when... in my memories."_ Kurumi said, Shido hearing her voice inside his head.

" _What your experiencing is a result of combining three of my powers. Yud, the power of recollection, it's letting you see my past. Tet, the power for my mind to connect to someone on another axis of time. Then finally Vav, the power to send one's consciousness to the past._ "

"Wait, are you saying I'm actually experiencing your past? Living your memories?" Shido asked, honestly surprised Kurumi had such an ability.

" _That's right Shido, I'll make you see exactly why your efforts are in vain. Also... don't even try to ask me questions, I'm not letting you influence my mind. My memories will do the talking for you. I'll only speak if I care to._ " Kurumi answered, Shido blinked at that last part, it was like she knew what he was gonna ask before he could even finish thinking it.

Soon as the memory continued he noticed someone familiar, and soon saw Kurumi alongside a friend of hers, and while she was the same there was one major difference... her left eye was the same red as her right, and it wasn't covered up by her hair.

" _That dear Shido is me, back when I was still Human._ " Shido gasped at that. " _That's right Shido, I was once just like Kotori. In fact... this is the case for every Spirit._ "

Soon as the memory continues.

"I'll see you tomorrow Saya." Kurumi said, waving goodbye to her best friend before she continued home, Shido following the past Kurumi to where she was heading, and quickly showed his surprise to see it was a mansion. Upon Kurumi coming inside, a maid turned to greet her.

"Welcome home my lady, I hope your day was well." The maid asked, Kurumi answered with a warm smile, more natural than any Shido had ever seen from her in the past.

Needless to say, that already set off a red flag towards what had made her change into the Spirit he knew now, and yet... he felt something else form in his heart when he saw it, as Kurumi walked upstairs she saw her parents who quickly turned and smiled.

" _Yeah... my parents were great people, if anyone was the right mix of kind and wealthy it was my family. Too bad by the time I became 17 it all changed._ " Suddenly Shido sees the memory get swept away like a wave in the ocean, and replaced with another.

As Kurumi began walking home on a different day, she suddenly felt her vision blur, and then suddenly she found herself in a strange place not of Earth.

"What is this place?" Shido wondered out loud, it was like he was on an alien world.

" _I never learned what it was truly called, but... I think it would be accurate to call this place the Spirit's Dimension_." Kurumi answered, making Shido gasp. This was the dimension that the Spirits went to when they became 'Lost' in their world? Looking around he definitely noticed some areas looked just like the energy of a spatial quake.

" _And let's just say how I knew spirits wasn't always the same as what you know them as, you're about to see what I mean._ "

Suddenly Kurumi heard a strange sound behind her, and when she turned her face contorted in horror and she fell on her butt as a shadowy monster neared her. Kurumi quickly tried to get back on her feet and ran away as fast as she could, hoping to escape the monster that began to chase her. Needless to say the monster had the advantage and quickly got close, Kurumi tripped and soon screamed as it was about to get her when... it was suddenly struck to the side.

"Huh?" Kurumi gasped, the sight of a girl wearing a dress of light came to her view, Shido couldn't see her face however.

" _Sorry Shido, but I don't have the best memories of this woman, and other reasons. So you're not getting to see who this girl is._ " Shido sweatdropped at that wondering if she was just mocking/teasing him, or if she really didn't want to recall this woman's face. Soon the girl wearing the dress of light cuts the shadowy monster apart, killing it.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked, helping Kurumi up. As Kurumi stared silently she giggled at the odd vibe that had just formed. "Oh sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Mio _, and I'm what you would call an 'ally of justice'."

Mio explained, Shido only stared oddly as if to indirectly ask Kurumi if she wouldn't let him know the girl's last name either. She only whistled in response and he groaned as a result.

"...Where am I exactly?" Kurumi asked, worried if she could get home.

"Well this place is where monsters called Spirits live. That thing you just got attacked with, that was a Spirit, and they're dangerous. Like... would be destroyers dangerous, and I've seen them get into your world." Mio explained, scaring Kurumi and surprising Shido.

"You know I do need some help, they're starting to become too much for me. If you have people that you wanna protect, how about I give you powers like mine to fight them?"

"Y-you can do that?" Kurumi asked surprised before Mio took out a black spherical gem of sorts. "What is this?"

"This thing's called a Sephira Crystal, I found one long ago and got my powers, but they don't stack unfortunately. Take it and you can help fight with me to protect Earth... but know once you do there's no going back." Mio explained, looking at that, Kurumi thought about her friends, her family and most of all... her best friends and parents. She grabbed the crystal.

" _You clearly heard what she said, and that's exactly why... I would learn I made the wrong choice._ " Kurumi's gasped as her right eye's pupil whitened and her left one became a gold clock, an outfit different but somewhat similar to her Astral Dress formed on her moments later.

Shido had realized this was the moment she had been turned into a Spirit, and once again the memory was washed away and replaced with another.

* * *

Back outside Shido's mind, but long before Kurumi began showing him her memories, Mana met with Kotori inside a building's construction site.

"Alright Kotori, what aren't you telling Shido?" Mana asked bluntly, making Kotori blink. "I've noticed ever since you found out who Reine really was, you haven't lost any trust in her, in fact you have even more... like you heard something that explained her acts that you couldn't. It's about Shido isn't it... and about me, am I right?"

Kotori stares at Mana before sighing, giving a somber look that told Mana she was right, and unfortunately Mana had been hoping she was wrong.

"Alright, I'll tell you. Just know I didn't say it because sometimes it's better to not tell the truth, even if you don't lie." Kotori began, breathing as she tried to calm herself. "You are aware of Deus Ex Machina industries correct?"

"You mean DEM? I've heard about them, it some big company that was founded a few decades ago in England, there's a branch here in Japan too. I think here in Tenguu City if I remember right." Mana replied. "What about them?"

"What would you say if I told you that apparently 30 years, they did something that left a lasting impact on the world. That impact you ask? The deaths of 150 million." Kotori revealed, causing Mana's eyes to widen as that number alone told her everything.

Only one disaster had such a high casualty rate in that time frame... the original spatial quake, or the Eurasian Sky Disaster as some knew it.

* * *

Shido stared at the memory before him, the sight of Kurumi's friend Saya being killed had just recently been seen through his eyes, and Kurumi nearly freaking out. What surprised him most was whatever her reaction to killing Saya had done caused her Astral Dress to become what it was currently.

"Kurumi..." Shido muttered, just as horrified. To see Mio's reasons and wonder how many had died for them, while Mio kept the same sad face the whole time, yet it didn't feel fully human.

"Forgive me, but... please forget everything." Mio said putting her hand over Kurumi's face, Kurumi's eyes suddenly widened as she felt herself black out.

The blackness quickly faded as Kurumi woke up in a crater of a recently finished spatial quake, black/red energy seeping from the ground of the crater. Kurumi looking confused, unsure who she was or what just happened. At that moment, a group like the AST began attacking.

" _She destroyed all of my memories, all I could recall were the powers I had, and my own name. That's when I recalled the power of my Tenth Bullet, Yud, and used it on myself._ " After outrunning the AST, Kurumi soon held up Zafkiel and motioned for her tenth bullet before she fired it.

Kurumi's eyes widened as the memories Mio had taken all came back to her... and soon her face showed rage.

"...Kurumi, just who is Mio? She's a Spirit like you, so why would she do this?" Shido asked, at first Kurumi was silent, but then...

" _Because... she's the only Spirit who's never been human, and the one that began it all. The root of everything began when she first touched the soil of our world 30 years ago._ " Kurumi answered, her voice void of any emotion as she said it. Shido gasped at that.

" _That's right Shido, the one in my memories you've come to learn as Mio is the First Spirit. The one who caused everything... the person I hate most in this world._ "

"Kurumi..." Shido said softly, enough Kurumi didn't hear it.

" _And the I will kill, by using Yud Bet's power... I'll erase her the day she appears on this world and change history!"_ Kurumi growled, her anger surfacing as the thought of Mio surfaced to her mind again. At that moment, the realm of Kurumi's memories went dark, and Shido felt himself wake up.

* * *

"No way... are you saying that DEM was responsible. That can't be, shouldn't a Spirit have caused that based on what you've told me and Shido?" Mana asked confused, what Kotori had told her felt a bit contradictory right now.

"Mana, think about it for a moment. There had never been a single spatial quake before that day. How did one suddenly show up out of nowhere, how would any life from another world suddenly come here just like that, especially just one being if it wanted to destroy our world?" Kotori asked, and her question really made Mana think.

It didn't take long until she realized it.

"You get it now? The DEM, they were the people responsible for letting the First Spirit into our world."

"My god... wait, but why does this related to me and Shido?" Mana asked, still feeling lost. "And why does this even connect to Reine knowing about it?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you, but according to Reine..." Kotori began.

* * *

_-Flashback Start-_

Kotori looked at Reine as she finally stopped crying. After asking her what she knew about Shido and Mana, the answer she received... she wished she hadn't heard it and let herself be ignorant until any reason to worry had vanished.

"Because I'm trying to save them, before it's too late." Reine said, making Kotori's eyes blink before they widened at her words.

"What do you mean?" Kotori said, suddenly worried and scared.

"...Take a look at this." Reine said before pulling up files on a computer, showing Shido and Mana's bodies, and intense magical power ratings that matched that of a spirit's mana.

"Only Shido can actually cause them to receive it, but as you can see right now... they can't handle the spirit power that's in their bodies, and this wasn't after Shido sealed your powers... it's been the case since they were born."

Reine turns to face Kotori.

"If Shido can't seal all of the Spirits, then sadly... they'll both die in about 10 years."

Kotori gasped in horror at that.

"No... you're lying! It's not true!" Kotori replied shakily, backing into the wall as tears began to flow into her eyes. "Big bro... no."

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

Mana stared in shock.

"...What?" She and Shido would die in 10 years if they couldn't seal all the Spirits? No, that wasn't the only thing that flew through her mind, how did they have it since birth? "...How would Reine even know this?"

"I don't know, when I asked she wouldn't... no, it was like she couldn't answer. She tried to tell me, but if was like if she spoke the words she'd end up breaking down." Kotori answered, but soon gave a serious look.

"Yet I think I realized what it is, the question is seeing if I'm actually right about my theory."

Kotori walks closer to Mana and puts her hand on her shoulder.

"And something tells me... Kurumi holds the proof I need."

Suddenly Mana and Kotori blink as they hear Kannazuki call Kotori's phone.

"Commander, we have a problem. It's Kurumi Tokisaki... we need you and Mana to get to Raizen High immediately!" Kannazuki screamed, in a full blown panic. The two nod at each other and leave.

* * *

A few minutes before Mana and Kotori's talk concluded, Shido gasped as his consciousness returned to his body. It had been like hours within Kurumi's memories while only a few seconds had passed in the real world. Kurumi dispelled her Angel as she stared at Shido.

"You see now Shido? Will finally talk back what you just said to me, about 'saving' me?" Kurumi said calmly, Shido sweating a bit. "Come on, don't you think I'm downright awful to be causing all this pain just because of a stupid vendetta?"

"..." Shido only kept looking at Kurumi, hanging his head down a bit.

"You can say it... you hate me, and it's clear to you I'm not someone who deserves mercy." Kurumi continued. "I will eat you, but I'm at least giving you the chance to die without the thought of an impossible task ruining your last moments. Now say it."

Kurumi smirked, sure she had won.

"...Sorry, but I can't do that Kurumi. Because after all I saw, I can't hate you." Shido said, causing the light in Kurumi's eyes to vanish in shock at the claim, part of her still thinking she had misheard him.

"If I gave up on you, someone I clearly saw suffering... no, is still suffering now. I'd regret it for the rest of my life. So I will not give up on you, and I never will, because I care for you and want to help, so you never feel alone again!"

"..." Kurumi's teeth gritted as her fists clenched so heard, Shido swore she drew blood. "Why are you so stubborn, why won't you give this up? I know it... you and Mio... are no different from one another! Those words are proof, stop lying to me!"

Shido was soon suddenly knocked back as Kurumi's power burst out and she suddenly disappeared from view before reappearing on the rooftop with her Astral Dress on.

"You'll learn the hard way Shido, the harsh fact that you just opened Pandora's Box, and there's no hope for you to find inside of it."

Shido got up, in pain from the sudden act, and soon a heavy feeling hit him as a barrier covered the school and swallowed all the light. Everyone else on the other hand fell unconscious instantly.

"What? What just happened?" Shido asked himself in shock, he taps his headset. "Reine, Kannazuki? Can you tell me anything?"

"It's one of Kurumi's most dangerous abilities, how she can hunt the time of so many without resistance of she needs it. It's a barrier that drains them of their time without killing them... unless she does that herself that is. I believe it's called the [City of Devouring Time]." Reine explained, having seen Kurumi use the technique countless times while watching her as Phantom.

"Other Spirits are resistant to it, so the fact Kotori's powers are inside you is the only reason you're even still conscious right now."

'No way... is she making the entire school a hostage?' Shido wondered. "...Hey Reine, what was Kurumi's emotional state before she fled?"

"It was mostly anger for a majority of it, however I noticed something off the moment she heard you use the word 'save, she was still angry... but I also saw her emotional state register fear and sadness. She was showing you her memories, correct?" Reine asked, after seeing him nod through the monitor she continued.

"Tell me, did you see any moment she was with another person?"

Shido thought and then suddenly remembered her first meeting with Mio and then the death of Saya when she accidentally came back and saw Mio by her corpse.

"...Someone saved her, and later she saw something that made her feel she was used and betrayed." Shido said, suddenly realizing Kurumi's response fully.

"It's likely that experience was so painful, hearing someone say they want to save her must provoke a psychological trigger in her mind. One that makes her believe that if she trusts someone like that again, the same thing will happen." Reine said, pausing for a moment. She closes her eyes and thinks... and then continues after exhaling a bit.

"Shido... if you want to help her, you need to show her that you mean exactly what you say."

"Don't worry, I swear I will." Shido said before walking through the halls to try and find Kurumi.

Unaware to him, Origami managed to force herself to not faint and managed to activate her emergency Realizer, with it the effects of the barrier no longer threatened to knock her out and she began moving as well.

Meanwhile on the Fraxinus, Reine stands up.

"Kannazuki, take things over form here. Let Mana and Kotori know they need to hurry... it's time I stop running away myself." Reine said, quickly vanishing using her spirit power.

"W-wait, what else should I even do!?" Kannazuki panicked before calling Kotori's phone.

On the rooftop, Kurumi waited in place before looking forward with a dark smirk.

"The clock is ticking everyone, and very soon... everyone's time will be up!" Kurumi quietly said, afterwards she goes into a full blown unhinged cackle, everyone hurrying towards the same place as her laugh echoes.

* * *

**Oh boy... Kurumi finally snapped, and now she's gotten serious. Get ready because in the next chapter, the fight with Kurumi will finally begin, and it'll be a four sided fight between her, Kotori, Mana, Reine and Origami with Shido in the middle as he tries to quell the hatred and anger in Kurumi's heart while also making a discovery about himself.**

**We're finally nearing the end of this story, and it's been so exciting to write. Like I mentioned above, I'm honestly considering a possible sequel which won't be anything like canon was, it's not concrete yet. Though if you like the idea then let me know, the more people I hear are interested, the more likely it'll happen.**

**This story's nearing its end in soon, and I hope you've enjoyed it until now. Once this story reaches its end I'll finally begin work on one of my major story ideas, though if it'll be "Date A Re:Live" or "A Dragon's Heavenly Bonds" is something I still need to decide, so stay tuned because I might have a decision made by the time this story's finally over.**


	7. Chapter 7

**We're finally at Chapter 7, and the rooftop battle is about to finally begin. Before we start, in case your one of the readers who doesn't care about spoilers and doesn't fully know any Vol 16 spoilers outside of this story, I'm about to do something with Reine that's just for this story and not an actual spoiler, it is implied in canon but has yet to be confirmed or denied.**

**You'll notice it quick, but when you do, know that it's only canon to this story unless Volume 17 ends up revealing the official answer. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter's battle, and afterwards this story will meet its completion in the next chapter.**

**Now let's get this chapter started as we begin part one of the finale!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Silent Despair, Part 1 - Final Countdown**

Origami began running through the halls, and soon she hears Ryouko calling her.

"Origami, do you read me?"

"This is Origami, I hear you loud and clear." Origami answered, soon turning through the next hall as she had a good idea where Kurumi had to be.

"I'm showing you using an emergency uniform, can you tell me what's going on?" Ryouko asked, she had an idea but right now she couldn't get any proper readings about Kurumi. Somehow her City of Devouring Time was acting like a jamming field for any sensors trying to detect her spirit power.

"Dangerous situation, Kurumi Tokisaki's taken my school hostage. Try to send support so we can evacuate-" Origami started, but suddenly a bullet fired at her, hitting her suit's communication device and cutting her off. "Oh no... don't tell me."

Origami looked as one of Kurumi's clones rose from the ground.

"Well, hello there Origami. I hope you weren't trying to call for help?" Kurumi said, giving a mocking smirk. "You seem like you're in a rush, where are you off to?"

"I'm here to protect Shido from the real you." Origami said, taking out a sword.

"No, that doesn't work for me. Terribly sorry, but I was told by me to make you stay right here." Kurumi said, summoning Zafkiel's guns into her hands. "Or I could just make you another snack before myself's big meal."

"You won't be stopping me!" Origami said rushing at Kurumi, the clone began quickly shooting at her, but Origami simply dodged or used her sword to block her bullets. Origami soon jumped over her and slashed down before the clone's face froze up and she fell to the ground, bleeding from the injury.

"You're nothing like the original, and I'm not the same as when I fought the real you."

Kurumi chuckles weakly, feeling her consciousness fading as Origami instantly continued running towards the rooftop.

"...Oh Origami, I thought you were smarter than this? This is just the prelude" The clone went limp before sinking into a shadow. Only moments after Origami got further into the hall, a whole group of clones all laugh as they appeared to surround her.

"No, I don't have time for this." Origami muttered, looking around as the clones aim their guns at her. "Shido..."

* * *

Mana and Kotori quickly make it towards Raizen High, and soon they make it near the edge of the City of Devouring Time, luckily before they had arrived, Kannazuki had told them what would happen if they walked into it without being prepared.

"Oh man, it looks worse than Kannazuki made it sound. Quick, let's get set up before anything goes wrong." Kotori quickly said.

"Yeah, Murakumo equip!" Mana shouted as her wizard outfit formed.

"OK, now it's my-" Kotori never got the chance to finish as the barrier began to grow, suddenly encompassing the two. Mana felt the barrier's effects hit her slightly, but it was barely enough to fully affect her. Kotori however hadn't gotten her Limited Astral Dress on in time, and while able to stay conscious, she couldn't move.

"No, not now..."

Kotori weakly looks at Mana.

"Please... go on without me, protect big bro, protect... everyone."

"Kotori..." Mana breathed out, she didn't want to leave her, but right now she knew she couldn't be picky. "OK, I'll promise to keep big brother safe, don't worry!"

Mana flew off, while Kotori's face fell to the ground.

"Come on... please, please move Kotori! You have to!" Kotori said, struggling to regain her movement.

* * *

Kurumi continued her cackling on the rooftop, and soon stopped as she sensed someone drop down into view behind her. Kurumi turned as she saw Reine stare at her directly, Kurumi only grinned more as she turned to face her directly.

"So you've come to grace me first Phantom, or should I be calling you Reine Murasame now?" Kurumi giggled. "I hope you weren't expecting things to go your way, brcause I've just derailed it all."

"...Kurumi, stop this right now and let everyone go. I'm the one you want." Reine said, slightly sweating for reasons Kurumi didn't know of yet.

"You?" Kurumi inquired, then suddenly giggling. "That's funny, true I've never been able to stomach you in all the time we've known each other, but I don't have anything against you except your cheap tricks and deception. Don't worry, I'll still be eating you anyways so you don't have to be left out."

Reine gritted her teeth, and soon breathed realizing she didn't have a choice.

"To think..." Reine said, her voice was the same until the next words came out of her mouth. "...that I let all this happen just because I didn't realize who I gave Camael's crystal to back then."

Kurumi's face froze in place with a slight hint of anger as she heard that.

"...That voice, you dare to mock me with it?" Kurumi seethed, knowing just who it belonged to.

"I can't mock you with it, not when it's the only voice that's actually mine." Reine continued, soon her form glowed white before it shifted into a whitened silhouette of a young girl with long hair, almost like a younger Reine with more vivid silver hair and no dark spots.

Soon a familiar Astral Dress appeared in Kurumi's eyes before the white washed away, revealing a girl she knew all too well.

"How long has it been since you've seen me like this Kurumi?"

Kurumi's right eye glowed with an intensity it hadn't since the day she saw Saya's dead body, the girl standing in front of her, the girl who had been known so far as Reine Murasame and the Phantom, just revealed her real identity. She was...

"Mio Takamiya!" Kurumi screamed, completely furious to see the First Spirit herself standing before her. "Are you freaking kidding me!? All this time, you were there, manipulating me even further? How dare you!"

"Kurumi, you said it yourself, I'm the one you hate more than anything. So just leave everyone else out of this. Back then, when we first met... I didn't understand Humans enough, and I did something terrible to you I can't undo." Mio began, hoping she could somehow make Kurumi stand down, or at least end this all by by sacrificing herself. If she had to.

"Despite that, you can't just-"

Mio's words were soon cut off as she felt herself get shot in the arm by one of Zafkiel's bullets, making her scream in pain.

"Shut up, I don't want your excuses now! It's too late!" Kurumi yelled, all the hatred in her mind refusing to accept anything she'd tell her as anything but her attempt to use her like she had long ago.

"I will take everything from you! Starting with your life in the present, then the family you care so much about, and finally... I'll kill you back when you first came to this world so your dream dies before it ever begins!"

"Stop this Kurumi, changing the past at such a level would-" Mio felt herself held against the wall as arms of Kurumi's clones held her to it and began to cut off her air slightly.

"Was changing my life something any smaller? You have no right to demand anything from me, you're not even Human so don't even think you understand!" Kurumi screamed, holding Zafkiel at Mio's forehead.

"Besides, you're too weak to make any threats. I've learned how they were once part of you."

Kurumi smirks as she sees Mio panic.

"That's right, you're no stronger than the Spirits you've created. I'll have the pleasure of killing your past self with your own power, and..."

"Don't... say it... please." Mio begged, starting to tear up.

"...The power of your own children, die knowing that because of you that they'll never get to exist when I'm done with you, that in trying to save them you've only sealed their demise." Kurumi finished, cackling as she began to move her finger to fire Zafkiel.

'Shido, Mana...' Mio thought, time moving in slow motion to her as Kurumi prepared to pull the trigger. "Forgive me, because of my sins... you have to pay the price. If only you didn't have such a foolish being as your mother.'

"Get away from my mom!"

Kurumi suddenly looked as energy threads aimed at her, an explosion of smoke covering the area as she jumped back.

"...So nice of you to join us, Mana Takamiya." Kurumi said, the blue haired wizard landing between them.

Mana turned to look at Mio, who stared at her in surprise at what Mana had just called her.

"Don't worry, I'm not letting her hurt you anymore." Mana smiled, trying to reassure her before looking back at Kurumi with an angry look. "I'm not gonna let you hurt my mother."

"You've obviously heard what I've said if you know who she is now, I'm the real victim here and so are you. She abandoned you and your big brother." Kurumi said, wondering why Mana did what she did. "So why defend her? You have every reason to hate her, just like I do."

"...You're right, she's done terrible things, and left me and Shido alone and caused us to be separated. I'll admit it, I'm upset, sad, and even angry at being abandoned for all those years. Appalled and terrified at what she did to you, and to so many others I may never know about." Mana said, making Mio look down and causing Kurumi to smirk as she expected Mana to give up on her.

"But..."

"Hmm?" Kurumi said, not expecting Mana to use that word.

"...She's trying to make amends, she's not running away from the mistakes she's made! Because of that, I won't hate her!" Mana shouted, making Mio's eyes tear up and causing Kurumi to step back in shock.

"Mana..." Mio cried, despite everything that had happened... her daughter still loved her. "Thank you."

"You would forgive her, after all she's done!? What she did is unforgivable!" Kurumi screamed, unable to process what she heard.

"I'm not saying I forgive her, I can't do that... but I am giving her the chance to make amends. Every deserves that chance." Mana said, and at that moment, Kurumi screamed.

"Aleph!" Kurumi shot herself, causing her to rush at Mana and knock her into the sky. "I should have known you Takamiya's are all the same! You, her, and Shido... I'll erase you from this world so you never use another human being ever again!"

Kurumi then kicked Mana into the ground. Mana weakly got up, staring at Kurumi as she lands and stares back.

* * *

Kotori was still lying on the ground, struggling to move.

"Damn it... no matter how much power I pour out I can't call out my Astral Dress." Kotori whimpered, barely having the strength to keep herself conscious. She tried to get up again only to fall. "If I took back all of my power I could do it, but if I do... I'll just go out of control again. I can't let that happen."

Kotori cried and grabbed some of the dirt at how useless she felt.

Suddenly the sound of glass breaking was heard as Origami was knocked out of one of the school's windows, she tumbles across the ground before landing on her feet near Kotori. She notices her moments after, surprised at her presence in the school grounds.

"Kotori? What are you doing here?" Origami asked.

"I was trying to help Shido but... the barrier swallowed me before I could summon my power, I can't call it... I can't move!" Kotori whimpered weakly.

Origami barely had time to react as she noticed the clones who knocked her out of the window rush after her, realizing Kotori could be used against her, she grabs her and quickly jumps away from their landing spot.

"Origami... where's Shido?"

"I don't know, but we'll find him. Just try to hold it together." Origami said as she ran back towards the school, Kurumi's clones all flew at the two and Origami knew she couldn't outrun them, checking her machine gun's remaining ammo she got an idea. "If I can't hit them, then I'll make sure what I have can still help me in another way."

Origami jumped and began firing her gun as she stabbed her sword into it, causing it to spark and glow red.

"Hold on tight!"

She instantly formed a realizer as an explosion launched it back into the school, crashing through a few rooms before appearing in the hall Shido had been walking through to his surprise.

"Origami? Kotori!?" Shido gasped, their sudden entrance both surprising him and filling him with worry. Origami got up first and put Kotori in his arms.

"Stay back Shido, we've got company." Origmai panted as all of Kurumi's clones finally caught up to them, laughing crazily. "I won't let you near him!"

Origami gave a loud shout as she began slashing at the remaining clones, but soon a few of them piled on her while the others knocked Shido to the ground. Kotori tumbled across the floor as a watched the two trapped while the clones purposely ignored her.

'No, why is this happening!? Why didn't I summon my powers sooner? Why... why am I so useless?' Kotori thought, crying a bit. 'I'm just a burden right now! Big bro, Mana, everyone... I'm sorry.'

"Kotori, don't be afraid!" Shido shouted, catching Kotori's attention. "Your powers are inside me right? Then take them, take them all back, please!"

Kotori's eyes widened, she had told Shido what would happen if she used her full power, she shook her head at him, not willing to take the risk.

"I'm here for you, if anything happens I'll save you! That power can't just be to destroy, I know you can control it! Believe in yourself!"

Kotori's eyes widen at that line, believe in herself...

'Shido, Mana, Reine, Kannazuki, everyone on the Fraxinus... they believe in me? So what am I doing just sitting her, feeling sorry for myself? I... I have to at least try! Shido's right, if something happens he'll save me just like before, I can...' Kotori thought. "DO THIS!"

Kotori screamed, suddenly causing a strong red light to catch the clones attention.

" **CAMAEL!** "

Suddenly a strong burst of flames strikes all the clones and they tumble across the whole before burning away. Shido and Origami look as Kotori was now wearing a Kimono shaped Astral Dress, her hair flowing freely as her ribbons moved to her outfit's horns. Kotori panted and looked at herself, and soon realized it... the burning feeling, the overwhelming force from 5 years ago, it wasn't there.

"It's not taking over... I can control it, I can really control it!"

Shido smiled, he had a feeling she could do it and he was right.

"Kotori... I knew you could."

Origami looks at you, getting Kotori's attention.

"...Kotori, 5 years ago I was sure you were the ones who killed my parents. Yet..." Origami started, trying to not let her anger win considering the situation. "Something told me otherwise, and I wanna believe it's not you. Besides... now's not the time for us to fight against each other."

Kotori nods at that.

"That's right, Mana needs us. Come on you two." Kotori said, grabbing the two before raising Camael into the air before it assumed it's Megiddo form and morphed into a cannon. The beam of fire shoots out of Camael, burning a hole through it and each level until it blazes through the roof, creating a way straight to the top. "Hang on, we're on our way!"

Kotori dispelled Camael before grabbing Shido and Origami, flying through the holes she just created.

* * *

"Get ready to die, both of you!" Kurumi shouted, aiming both of Zafkiel's guns at them for the final blow.

Right before she could however, she suddenly noticed a funnel of flame burst out from the side of the floor, catching all three of them off guard. Seconds later, Kurumi saw Kotori fly out and land on the ground, Shido and Origami soon standing beside her.

"What!?"

"Not part of your plan? You should get used to this little fact, usually most plans don't go the way you want them too." Kotori smirked, recalling Camael to her hand. "All of us are you're opponents now!"

Mana, who was still standing despite having clearly been injured almost everywhere, smiled as they came.

"You made it just in time." She readied herself again. "Now we can finish this, we'll end this nightmare together!"

"I've nearly had it... you think this nightmare will end? That you can make it some kind of dream with a happy ending?" Kurumi growled, her eye twitching as her anger neared its limits. "It's time I show you how cold a mistress reality is! Do you hear me?!"

"Kurumi!" Shido shouted, the angered spirit only glaring at the three. "I'm gonna repeat my vow to you once more..."

Shido said, before breathing and giving the most confident face he could.

"I will save you, no matter what it takes!"

* * *

**Woo! Now that was an intense chapter, and it's technically not finished because this is only part 1, things have only just gotten started. Next time when we start Chapter 8, we'll start with the gap between where Mana and Kurumi's battle stopped to the moment the others arrive, and then we'll see a four on one battle with Kurumi.**

**Not only that, but Shido will probably do the craziest things in the story yet as he tries to reach her at the same time. Will the shadows in Kurumi's heart finally vanish? Will the nightmare of this battle finally end happily? Well... *giggles* I'm not telling, for all you know, I might just actually keep Kurumi unsealed like in canon, if you wanna know then you've gotta keep reading.**

**See you all next chapter when we enter part 2 of this story's epic finale, and then after that, part 3 will finally bring this story to an end!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright everyone, here's the big one, in this chapter you're finally gonna get the answer I teased in the previous chapter. Shido's finally gonna admit how he feels to Kurumi and then... Kurumi's answer to letting him save him. Before that, a four way battle as Kotori, Origami, Mana and even Mio all join in to fight against Kurumi.**

**In case anyone's curious, since I mentioned in the previous chapter that Mio isn't as strong as she used to be, if I were to compare how strong she is to another character then I'd say the best comparison would be Kaguya or Yuzuru if they were fighting without the other by their side and didn't have access to their Angels.**

**Alright, enough explaining for me, you all wanna read now. So here's Chapter 8.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Silent Despair, Part 2 - A Chained Heart**

Mana jumps back as Kurumi fires at her again, soon holding her arms once she lands on the ground.

"Gathering Cloud Sword Style!" Mana shouted, immediately after this, part of the Murakumo's shoulder armor moves to clamps attached at the hand area of her suit. As Kurumi flew down at her, she quickly slashed and countered against Kurumi's constant swings with Zafkiel. "I feel sorry for you Kurumi."

"Shut up!" Kurumi said as she jumped away, soon preparing to fire another bullet.

"Why Kurumi?" Mana asked, looking sad she had to fight someone in so much pain. "Why do you have such powerful hatred? It's almost like you want to be this way, like you only want darkness inside your heart."

Mana flew at Kurumi, making Kurumi cancel charging her shot to block her sword strikes.

"You never deserved to fall down this road, please... it's not too late! Let us help you!"

Kurumi screams in response, kicking Mana in the gut before posing at the VII of her clock.

"Zayin!"

As Mana tumbled back, the bullet froze her in time as Kurumi fired every shot she could before time resumed for her, making Mio gasp at how many shots she was taking.

"Don't you dare think you know me, that it's right to help me! You don't know anything!" Kurumi yelled, soon panting as time resumed for Mana and she fell to the ground.

"Mana!" Mio shouted, luckily Mana shook a bit, showing she was alive. If it weren't for the magic power within her body she would be dead. "Please... stop this, what are you trying to prove Kurumi?"

"I..." Kurumi stuttered, shaking as she heard that. "I... I'm..."

Kurumi violently shakes herself.

"No, I won't fall for your words again Mio! Not again!"

Mana soon slowly got up, somehow still able to stand despite being shot almost at every non-vital spot on her body.

"So, you still want more Mana?" Kurumi questioned.

"As long as I'm alive, and I can still stand... I'm not giving up." Mana said, refusing to let the pain she felt searing through her stop her.

Kurumi stared at the two, giving a disappointed look.

"If you're trying to sound like a hero, then news flash... you only look pathetic." Kurumi posed at the XI on the clock, causing Mio's eyes to widen as she recalled its ability, it could consume Spirit power directly. It tended to cost more than her shadows, but a direct hit in their weakened states could easily end them both.

"Yud Aleph."

Kurumi licked her lips as she got ready to devour them.

"Get ready to die, both of you!"

Kurumi prepared to fire, but she never got the chance as suddenly a funnel of flame burst out from the side of the floor, catching all three of them off guard. Seconds later, Kurumi saw Kotori fly out and land on the ground, Shido and Origami soon standing beside her.

"What!?"

Kurumi shouted in shock.

"Not part of your plan? You should get used to this little fact, usually most plans don't go the way you want them too." Kotori smirked, recalling Camael to her hand. "All of us are you're opponents now!"

"You made it just in time." Mana said, smiling as she readied herself again. "Now we can finish this, we'll end this nightmare together!"

"I've nearly had it... you think this nightmare will end? That you can make it some kind of dream with a happy ending?" Kurumi growled, her eye twitching as her anger neared its limits. "It's time I show you how cold a mistress reality is! Do you hear me?!"

"Kurumi!" Shido shouted, the angered spirit only glaring at the three. "I'm gonna repeat my vow to you once more... I will save you, no matter what it takes!"

Kurumi gripped her fist tightly, she finally had it by this point. Her constant failures to eat Shido, Origami's mere presence, Mio's manipulations under the guise of Reine and Phantom, Mana's annoyances, Kotori holding the power of her deceased best friend, and most of all... Shido's constant insistence that she would save him, something that led to her being used the last time anyone had done such a thing.

Kurumi's face gained an extremely calm anger to it before her shadow opened and had eleven clones manifest from it.

"Fine... if that's the way you want it, then I vow I'll kill all of you and eat you no matter what! Let's see who breaks their promise first!" Kurumi screamed. Shido then noticed Mio's presence, he along with Origami and Kotori were still unaware she was Reine, but Shido did recognize her Astral Dress.

"Mana, who is this?" Shido asked, hoping the answer to a question that he had been wondering about was true or not.

"Well, we knew her as Reine Murasame before now, but her real name is Mio Takamiya." Mana answered, making Shido's eyes widen slightly as her last name. Seeing his reaction, Mana continued. "That's not all big bro, she's also... our mom."

Shido looked at Mio as if to get confirmation, and she nodded to him.

"...I'm sorry, for hiding it from you all this time." Mio said softly, unable to fully look at Shido. Shido's eyes were shadowed briefly before he breathed.

"Tell me something, from the earliest thing I can remember, I recalled you abandoned me... is that true?" Shido asked, causing Mio to look at him as he asked that question. It soon dawned to her that he was trying to confirm how he should feel with this one question.

"Know this Shido, there's more I regret... than having to leave you and Mana that day." Mio said, shaking as she expected Shido to hit her or something similar.

However she simply felt Shido pet her head, looking at her with a teary smile, finally making Mio shed years worth of tears. At that moment, Kurumi and her clones rushed at them, making her eyes widen as she stood in front of Shido.

"Now it's time for me to finally be a mother and protect you in arm's reach!"

Mio rushed forward, Mana, Kotori and Origami all following her in response.

'I can't fight like they can, so how can I help them? How can I save Kurumi?' Shido thought, pushing his brain to think of an idea.

Three of Kurumi's clones dog pile Kotori, but the flame spirit's fire burned as she gripped Camael tightly.

"Cut her to pieces, Camael!" All four clones were instantly slashed apart, slowly fading into spirit power as they flew by the real Kurumi who took some slight burn damage in the process. "Is that really all you have? If you'd rather cry and run home to mommy then I'd completely understand."

Kurumi grit her teeth. Meanwhile another three of the clones were facing off against Origami and Mana at the same time, Origami staying close to Mana who wasn't at her best due to her injuries.

"Mana, you have anything that could slow them down?" Origami asked. Mana smirked at that.

"Thought you'd never ask." Mana's shoulder pads raised and shot the energy threads, the three clones tried to dodge, but only two of them got away as the third was struck and became immobile. Taking the chance, Origami slashed her, causing it to fall before it faded away like the others. "Two on two seems more far now, let's finish this."

Mana dashed forward, surprising the clone in her range before it was suddenly hit into the air and tossed around like a shaken soda can.

Soon Mana jumped overhead and slashed down, finishing the clone off. Origami soon piggybacked off her, using Mana as a springboard to reach the clone who flew towards the sky, and soon spun before slashing at it, knocking it down before it faded as well.

Mio dealt with the remaining 5 clones who all rushed at her at once, Mio shifted her position before she charged spirit mana into a sphere.

"Eat this!"

Mio expelled the spirit power as a beam which hit all of the clones instantly, taking them all out, though leaving Mio a bit winded.

Kurumi growls at the result.

"Damn it... if you think this is over, then you couldn't be any further from the truth!" Kurumi aims Zafkiel at herself.

"Dalet!"

She fires three times, each shot rewound time to heal her of the damage she received and removing the fatigue she had gained.

"I hope you didn't think you were winning, because it seems like to me that I'm back in mint condition again." Kurumi smirked, making all but Mio grit their teeth.

"Crap, can we really beat her if she keeps healing the damage we deal like that?" Kotori said, seating a bit from the worry that Kurumi might still overwhelm them, but soon she felt Mio put a hand on her shoulder to her surprise.

"She's not in as good of a condition as she might physically appear, notice her clock eye?" Mio pointed out, and the others all noticed that earlier it had been at the V of her eye, but now it had moved to the II.

"Kurumi's spirit powers only get used up if she uses her shadow abilities, but if she manipulates time through Zafkiel, she has to pay a cost of time energy she's collected."

Kurumi pants a bit, realizing how much time she had already used up.

'I can't believe I used up so much, though I'm so close now. If I can eat them all then all the time I sacrificed won't be in vain!' Kurumi thought, refusing to back down.

"Once she runs out, she can't manipulate time anymore until she gets more, and she's already taken all she can from this place. We just need to hold out a bit longer and then we can win." Mio said, feeling confident. The others all give similar looks before Kurumi got nervous... until she suddenly felt streams of shadow connecting to hers, causing Mio to gasp.

"What? No, don't tell me that-"

"You made it back just in time Me's, now the table has turned in my favor!" Kurumi's clock eye moved to the IV, she soon cackled as dozens of clones came out of her shadow and quickly restrained and held everyone but Shido down. "Aw, how tragic is this? You were so full of hope and in a mere instant I turned it all into despair. Although..."

Kurumi smirks and raises her hand as a fist, suddenly causing the spatial quake alarm to set off.

"No, you can't!" Shido shouted, his eyes widening at what Kurumi was about to do.

"I can't? Let me see, I'm constraining two spirits and two wizards, KOd the entire school and drained them of all the time I could, and incapacitated all of you." Kurumi replies, soon giving a creepy smirk as her eyes glow and she licked her lips with her fingers close to them, soon giggling in response.

"...I think I can Shido, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Shido stared at her, feeling powerless... but then realized he could do something, and because all of Kurumi's clones were holding down the others she didn't have any more to bind his movements.

"That's where you wrong. Kurumi, stop the quake and take down the barrier otherwise..." Shido starts, soon jumping onto the railing to everyone but Kurumi's surprise. "...I'll jump off this roof and kill myself!"

"Big bro, don't do-" Kotori tried to stop him, but soon noticed Mio shake her head. "Huh?"

"Shido realized the biggest flaw in her gaining time from the deceased, she can only do it if she's the one who killed them." Mio whispered, explaining the situation. "If Shido were to die from falling, all the power that belongs to only him would be lost to her forever. He's making himself a hostage."

Kotori's eyes widened, now realizing what Shido was trying to do. Now the question was if it would work.

"Seriously? Is that your best threat, because something tells me you won't go through with it." Kurumi smirked, confident it was a bluff. "Everyone's afraid of dying, you don't have the guts to do it."

"Watch me." A that moment, everyone gasped while Kurumi's eyes widen as he tipped backwards and actually let himself fall. At that moment, Kurumi used her shadows to grab him mid fall and through him back onto the roof.

"Are you kidding me!?" Kurumi shouted, unable to comprehend the fact Shido had willingly risked his life ending. "That was incredibly stupid!"

Shido looks at her.

"I'm not as stupid as you think, by saving me you proved to me that you can't take my power if I just die by any means. That's why you stopped the quake last time when I was in the area, wasn't it?" Shido replied, causing Kurumi's eyes to widen.

He had figured out her time replenishment's weakness just by that one action, and all she had done was prove him right.

'This can't be, no... I refuse to let this be it for me! I can't let it.' Kurumi thought, trying to keep a straight face she smiled. "So what? If I just save you each time to try to die, your threat means nothing."

Shido shook his head.

"Then I'll simply bite my tongue, that'll kill me instantly. You won't have time to stop that." Shido replied, making Kurumi's confidence vanish once more.

She tried to look around for something... but the facts before her were obvious. The clones she had were barely holding the others, if she made even one let go, the person she restrained would be able to free themselves, and even if Kurumi tried to stop Shido in time with Zayin, there wasn't a guarantee that she could draw fast enough that she'd hit him before he bit his tongue.

"Now if you don't mind, you can stop the spatial quake now, and take down the barrier while you're at it." Shido requested, hoping he had finally dealt the final move. Kurumi stared at him, and then the cold reality of truth finally hit her... Shido had beaten her without even fighting, all because he managed to find out the fatal flaw of her plan.

"...I've lost, I can't believe this." Kurumi quietly said, lowering her head as she snapped her fingers. Soon the barrier faded while the spatial quake alarm stopped, the ripple above the school grounds proving it.

Kurumi's clones also all disappear, and everyone they held fell to the ground, without the danger they were in they all collapses as if the adrenaline was all that kept them going, Origami outright passing out.

"Oh, and there is one more thing." Shido said, wanting to make sure Kurumi didn't simply leave.

Kurumi lifted her head up to that, hating the fact Shido said those words after the result that just happened.

"How much more can there be?" Kurumi asked, now starting to visibly show fear.

"I want you to allow yourself to have a second chance." Shido said bluntly, making Kurumi stiffen.

"...Are we honestly back to this? Trust me, I'm more trouble than I'm worth, how long will it take you to get that I don't want you to save-" Kurumi began, but she'd never get the chance to finish as Shido's next words suddenly came out.

"Is it you don't want to be saved, or do you judge anyone's attempts to help you as a way to use you just because of what happened with my mom?" Kurumi suddenly froze up as Shido said that, her eyes shaking as she tried to think of a way to deny it. Her anger began to build, but then suddenly she felt fear, and then... sadness took over, she didn't want to admit it, but Shido had said it.

She had killed her best friend, it didn't matter to her it wasn't on purpose or that she didn't mean it despite she hadn't known it was her... she had still killed her. Then when she woke up after her memories had been erased, she honestly didn't know what happened to her family, they could have been died for all she knew, and she couldn't bear to learn the truth if they did. The only thing she could find, the only thing that she could act on was what Mio did to her.

Her entire hate of her... she based all her feelings on Mio's actions. For someone to say they would save her, try to help her when she was in trouble or danger, Mio's one act of using her had made her believe anyone who tried to do that was simply out to use her. That hate took control, the only bits of her original self were her kindness when talking with others, if she was sure they had nothing to gain from her... and recalling that made her recall her family and Saya, making her tremble.

"Stop it... after what I've done, I don't... I don't have the right. I don't." Kurumi said, slightly stuttering as her original self began manifest, unable to hold the confidence or emotions she had been showing until now. "Just let me go... I'll never bother everyone again, I'll just give up, so-"

"That isn't true even for you." Shido continued, making Kurumi gasped. "Listen to me, you can change and be happy if you want and I know you do."

Shido tightens his fist.

"I know it. If that wasn't an option, you wouldn't have given such genuine smiles, you wouldn't have felt bad about what happened... and you wouldn't have spent time with me that were plenty of chances for you to eat me!"

Kurumi's eyes shined at that, but also shook... her former self who wanted to live normally again, and the self made of her hatred who refused to be redeemed until she changed the past, they were still fighting between her.

"No, you're wrong... I have too much blood on my hands, it's too late!"

"IT'S NOT TOO LATE! I CAN HELP YOU!" Shido screamed, closing his eyes. Kurumi gasped as he said this. "Yes, you'll have to live with what you've done for the rest of your life, but still Kurumi... it doesn't matter how terrible you've been. It'll only be too late for you if you don't give yourself that chance."

"I... I..." Kurumi stuttered as her body shook, her mind still conflicted.

"Nothing will ever give me a reason to hate you Kurumi, because..." Shido breathes, knowing what he said couldn't be taken back. "Because I like you Kurumi, more than just as a friend!"

Everyone gasped upon hearing this.

"And because of that, if you still don't think you can change... then do it, kill me and take what you've wanted."

"What?" Kurumi breathed, Shido had just stopped her from doing just that, and now... he was offering for her to do it anyways? Then there was what he just said, he liked her... as in like-like her? True she had said she loved him, but that was just a facade... wasn't it? She wasn't even sure anymore.

"I... I don't know..." Kurumi looked at him again. "Why are you so kind to me?"

"Because... when I saw your memories, it reminded me of how I felt, when I thought I had been abandoned. When I thought I had no worth in the world." Shido said, holding out his arm to offer his hand, Kurumi's eyes shifted a bit at that. "If Kotori's family hadn't adopted me, I may have just killed myself."

Kurumi's eyes shook as she stared at him.

'Am I really worth it? Are you really trying to help me, just to help me? Can I... can really I go back?' Kurumi wondered. Just what should she do? Finally accomplish her go, or could she actually relinquish her hate, her mind drifted at the thought.

* * *

Kurumi soon felt herself within her minds cape, standing at a mental interpretation of a crossroad her mind had formed from her confusion and doubt. To her left was a blue version of herself made from blue light that took the form of her human disguise, while on the right a version of herself in her current spirit form made of red light was seen. They each represented a path, the path to redeem herself and the path to continue her goal.

 **"You've already come this far, stopping and making it all in vain is selfish. You never fought for your lost happiness so why now?"** Red Kurumi said, her voice having a dark tone to it.

 _"Shido's right, you had plenty of changes to take his powers, but you never did."_ Blue Kurumi said, a gentle tone within her voice. _"Deep down you knew, I bet Mio even knew. She told you about him because she felt she might be able to heal her heart."_

Kurumi looked between the paths and the two hers, as she did the red Kurumi frowned before snapping, causing various dark hands to grab her, causing Kurumi to see the blood stained on her hands. Worse is each drop of blood's shade was made to let Kurumi tell apart the blood of every person she ever killed.

 **"See that? That's every sin of yours, you will never be able to wash them off. You've already dirtied your hands, and nearly everything else, so why bother? Just keep staining them, you barely have "** Red Kurumi said, smirking at the sight of the real Kurumi shaking. **"Do it... you know you hate Mio that much, just let that hate swallow you and complete your goal, once you kill her nothing will matter, and you'll have Saya back."**

"I..." Kurumi stuttered, the image of Saya alive and then her dead body flashed in her head. 'Shido, I can't do it, I'm...'

"I forgive you Kurumi." A familiar voice rang out, Kurumi's eyes widened and she saw Saya in front of her. "I made the choice to take that crystal, that was my fault. Besides, as long as you remember, I'll never truly die."

Soon Kurumi saw visions of everyone she once knew, smiling and nodding at her, and Kurumi felt like she understood exactly what they were saying through it. _"See that Kurumi? Your heart knows more than you realize, and it's never stopped waiting for you to hear it, and you can listen... in fact you have listened."_ Blue Kurumi said smiling.

"The path I choose, it's..." Kurumi looked at each path again, and soon the red and blue Kurumi's vanished, after looking at her bloodied hands and then seeing Kurumi's smile again, she breathed as she took a step and a flash forward.

* * *

Shido looked as Kurumi's hand shook, slightly hesitant to take his own.

"I..." Kurumi weakly got out, looking at Shido's hand again, and then...

*DRIP*

Everyone saw Kurumi's eyes shedding tears, the first time any of them had ever seen it even for Mio.

"Shido!" Kurumi cried out as she finally reached out her hand and grabbed his, crying as Shido pulled her into a hug, her twin tails coming undone as if to represent the chains binding her were finally broken.

'You're free Kurumi.' Shido thought, soon noticing Kurumi had cried herself to sleep before tapping his headset. "...Hey Kannazuki, do you mind?"

Kannazuki sighs, but smiles quickly after as he sees Kurumi's feelings for Shido had reached the required level.

"You did good Shido." Kannazuki said. "You really did, and with the hardest spirit you could have done it with."

* * *

**And she says yes! I will admit though, I did honestly consider going the other route and having the same result as canon where she just fled. In the end though, success won out because I felt it wouldn't be right for the first Spirit that Shido tried saving being a failure.**

**I didn't have him seal her yet because I felt that shouldn't be until the next chapter, since the final part ties all the loose ends in this story, and I felt sealing her fit that quota. Plus, Kurumi simply chose the redemption path, she hasn't told Shido how she feels yet, sealing her now would feel too forced to me.**

**Either way, the battle's over, and now only Chapter 9 is left to bring finish this story. Stay tuned for the author's note in the next chapter because I have some announcements to make.**


	9. Chapter 9

**We're finally here, the last chapter of Kurumi Fearful, I can't believe I'm finally about to finish this story... it was really fun to write it and I feel kinda sad it's already over. Though all good things must come to an end eventually and that means this story's gotta end sometime.**

**Normally, I'd say a bit more here in the author's notes about what to expect in the chapter, but this time? I honestly think for this particular story's finale, I shouldn't say a thing for the experience to properly shine for every reader. So the only thing I have left to say is this:**

**Thanks for reading this story up until now and enjoy the finale. There's an important announcement at the End Notes, so make sure to check it out after you finish reading.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Silent Despair, Part 3 - A Renewed Hope**

Kurumi's eyes fluttered open as she finally woke up from her long nap, she rubbed her eyes to readjust her vision as the blurriness fades and she saw herself in some kind of medical room that was more reminiscent of a laboratory then a hospital room.

"What is this place? Kurumi wondered, unaware she was in the sick bay of the Fraxinus. She thought back to the last thing she remembered, which had been hugging Shido on the roof of Raizen High while crying, but that was it.

Soon the door opened up and she saw Shido walk inside, blinking at the sight of her being awake before smiling.

"Hey, glad to see you're finally awake." Shido said, walking closer to her bed. "Don't worry, you just collapsed from exhaustion after the fight ended. This ship doesn't really have any places to sleep though, so we had to put you here."

That finally explained to Kurumi why the room like that of a lab, because she wasn't resting in a hospital room.

"...Shido?" Kurumi suddenly asked.

"Yeah, what is it?" Shido asked, noticing Kurumi looking towards the wall he was looking towards from his position. Kurumi didn't turn to face him as she continued.

"Back then, you told me something... that you liked me as more than a friend. By that, did you mean... love?" Kurumi replied, not noticing Shido blush heavily at that response, apparently without his life on the line anymore, he didn't have the same confidence he had shown on the rooftop. "Because if that's what you meant..."

Kurumi continues, turning to look at Shido again.

"...I can't give you a real answer just yet. I never had the time to consider it, but..." Kurumi soon blushes a bit as she smiles. "That doesn't mean we can't start as friends so I can figure things out."

"Kurumi..." Shido breathed, unsure of how to feel or what he should say. Needless to say, a decision was made from him in a few seconds, Kurumi cupped her face with her hands, and soon kissed him on the laps. "Mmph!"

Shido was surprised by the sudden act, while he had kissed Kotori 5 years ago to seal her powers, and again after the fight to restore the seal, this was his first kiss with a girl his age. Kurumi stops the kiss and looks at his face before giggling.

"My, my, Shido. you switch between shy and brave so easily. It's kinda adorable. You better step it up. After all... that was my first kiss I just gave you." Kurumi said, blushing a bit.

Moments after the kiss, she suddenly sees her Astral Dress glow brightly before it dissolves away, her entire face suddenly went red and she screamed, covering her chest with one arm and used the over to move the blanket over the rest of her.

"S-Shido, what did you just do? Tell me!"

"I-I-I don't know! Well, I mean what I do know that I can seal a Spirit's powers when I kiss them, but I didn't know this would happen!" Shido said, looking away at the now cloth-less Kurumi, who angrily looked at him with her now two red eyes, both which slightly teared up from said anger. Suddenly, Shido realized something and shouted.

"KOTORI! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

* * *

In the bridge of the Fraxinus, everyone heard Shido's scream as the reading show that Kurumi's powers had been sealed away. Kotori blushing as she suddenly remembered that Shido hadn't been aware what happened the first time he had sealed her, and didn't happen when he re-sealed her, that a Spirit's Astral Dress is replaced by what they had been wearing before which in Kurumi's case had been... nothing.

"No one tells Shido I knew that would happen!" Kotori screamed. The crew all flinches, silently making a unanimous pact of agreement between them. Mio, once again taking her form as Reine Murasame, giggles a bit. "Why are you laughing!? Did you have something to do with that result?"

"Why, I don't know what you mean Kotori? I didn't give Shido his sealing powers after all." Mio smiled, though Kotori felt she might be lying. Considering how many secrets Mio had already been shown to have, a small one like this wouldn't surprise her, not to mention if she did give Shido his sealing ability... she was worried why she'd allowed what just happened to Kurumi to even happen.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kotori suddenly turned away.

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all, why even ask me that!?" Kotori shouted, unfortunately that denial wasn't fooling anyone. "...More importantly, why use that form after revealing who you really are?"

Mio stopped for a brief moment, almost as if to think a reason, but soon turned to Kotori.

"...You could say it's my way of upholding a promise, one that I intend to fulfill." Mio began, her hand briefly moving to the wedding ring necklace under her current outfit.

"I still have much to atone for, and much more to strive towards. Only when I do that can I truly take my form as Mio Takamiya again. When that time finally comes, I intend to be the mother that Shido and Mana deserved."

Kotori blinked before giving an odd look yet smiling.

"Who knew you could be so cheesy? Still, pretty noble goal for the Spirit of Origin to strive for. Until then, glad to have you on board... 'Reine'." Kotori said, smirking at that last part. Mio gave a light smile at that.

"Hey mom, I've gotta ask... where is our dad at?" Mana asked, everyone looked at Mio as she froze for a moment, and Mana worried if she may have asked something she didn't want the answer to. "Oh no, is he-"

"No, he's not dead, I'm almost 100% sure about that. Although... if he is alive, I'm not sure if his current state is any better." Mio answered, recalling the somber memory of the last time she had seen him.

"Alive or dead, he's currently beyond my reach. I don't feel I can tell you about him until I finally save him. Although..."

Mio turned to Mana, smiling lightly.

"That crazy courage you and Shido have? I know you got that from him, it's how I ended up having you two."

Mana blushed a bit at that, but soon put her hand on top of Mio's.

"We'll find him, together. No matter how long it takes." Minowa and Shiizaki both 'aww' at that, while the others all give smiles.

'And apparently, they get their cheesiness from you.' Kotori thought, sighing in relief.

* * *

The following day soon came, and Origami stood in a military uniform alongside her captain before some of the higher ups managing the AST as she gave her report on the situation with Nightmare at her school.

"...And you're sure this is what happened, nothing else?" The man in the middle desk asked, having some trouble believing the report she had been giving.

Origami didn't exactly lie, Kurumi was already a wild card even among the spirits, so not telling all of the truth about her choice in creating the barrier and trying to start a spatial quake only to start them both, not to mention her true goals and motivations until Shido finally got through to her... it seemed better to not say a thing about it.

Not to mention she didn't want to involve Shido. As a result, her report was merely a summary of Kurumi's actions, observations she made, and her disappearance afterwards.

"Yes, this is all I was able to see and confirm involving Nightmare. She seems to have left Tenguu City for the time being, but she may likely appear again in the future, and if she returns... I will fight her as a member of the AST as I've always have." Origami continued, her superiors all looked at one another before the middle one sighed. Kurumi was enough of an enigma that despite his disbelief, he had to accept the limited information of Origami's report was completely honest.

"Very well, Master Sergeant Tobiichi and Captain Kusakabe, you're both dismissed." The middle man said, sighing.

The two both solute at their superiors before leaving, as they walked down the hall, Ryouko breathed out in relief.

"I never like having to talk with them, I already have enough trouble killing stress over this job." Ryouko confessed, slumping her shoulders. She looks at Origami. "I can tell you didn't say everything to them, is there a reason for that? There were clearly three spirits up there."

"Probably wouldn't believe me even if I had, that or we'd all get fired for apparently massively failing to contain the situation at all." Origami muttered to herself, making Ryouko look at her wondering what she had just said.

"Tell me, if someone were to tell you Nightmare's not gonna be the same danger she was before when she next appears, would you believe them?"

Ryouko blinked.

"...I have no idea where you got that from, but sounds crazy enough that someone would question your sanity." Ryouko said, feeling some awkwardness at hearing that. "For now, we need to focus on the fact Efreet was detected in the same area, she might show up again considering she encountered Nightmare."

As Ryouko walked she noticed Origami stopping as she looked outside.

"Origami?"

Origami stared at the sun, the moment of her past when her parents died played through her head again.

'She said it wasn't Efreet, and now that I think about it... it definitely wasn't fire that burned my parents.' Origami thought. 'Kurumi Tokisaki... just who is that spirit you'll send into the past and why? Regardless, when we finally meet...'

Origami's fist tightened.

"I'll be there to finally kill you." Origami breathed.

* * *

Shido was with Mana and Mio, the origin Spirit showing him the same readings on their body as she had shown to Kotori. "So... you're saying that our nature as being half human is killing us?" Shido asked, making sure he understood things right.

"...That's right, humans aren't truly meant to handle the powers of the Spirits. I learned that quite easily through the various holders I gave the Sephira Crystals too over the years." Mio explained. "Exposure to humans did help refine them until the last ten including Kurumi became hosts who could properly use them. However, it took away their humanity in a sense."

"What makes that different from us exactly?" Mana asked.

"Using Kotori as an example, if we had a machine say if she was human or a spirit, the machine would always say she's the latter. It wouldn't be that different from an alchemic transfusion." Mio said, bringing up her data and then showcasing the major differences between hers and theirs.

Her entire body essentially was physical spirit mana, rather than a container like the Takamiya siblings.

"However, you two are half human. While in a sense you can use spirit powers you're not exactly spirits either. Yet inside of you both lies a Sephira Crystal."

"Then why not just take them out of us, it shouldn't be that-" Mana tried to say, but stopped as Mio shook her head. "Oh, so why can't they just be removed?"

"...You'd die." Mio simply stated, making the two flinch. "By all means the crystals are just like a second heart within the first one. There is a way around that. Yours are unique, the only problem is that every spirit needs to be sealed before I can safely remove it and then turn everyone I changed back to normal."

Mio sighed and stood up, looking at her children.

"Shido, there are nine more sources of spirit power out there. It's not just you and Mana, but the whole world itself depends on you sealing each spirit's powers... which might possibly include your father."

"Why, where is he?" Shido asked, Mana had been wondering the same thing, but wasn't sure how to ask after their mother first mentioned him.

"A place I once could freely go to, but has since been blocked off to me by means I don't fully understand, or at least I can't go there and be conscious any more than another Spirit can. That place is... the Spirit Dimension." Mio revealed, making the two gasp.

"That's another reason why finding the Spirits will likely be vital, if he is there, they're our best clues to find him. Shido, in a sense you hold the key to saving him."

"...Don't worry, I'm 100% serious about this now. I'll save all the Spirits like I saved Kurumi, and then after that, we'll save our father." Shido said, making Mana and Mio smile.

'I just hope you're ready when the time comes... saving your father is one thing.' Mio began thinking, soon the image of a white-haired man with lifeless eyes enters her thoughts. Making her hand twitch slightly.

'However, it'll be another to face the man who drove our family apart in the first place. Unlike the Spirits I don't think I can prepare you for him.'

* * *

A few days later, Shido and Kurumi, who was temporarily staying at the Itsuka residence until a apartment building for all the Spirits could be built next to the house was finished, began heading towards Raizen High. Due to Kurumi's actions and the resulting fight, the entire school had been closed down for the entire week for repairs and due to the AST's insistence of making sure Nightmare hadn't let any surprises.

"How are you feeling Kurumi?" Shido asked the formerly Worst Spirit, who he could tell was nervous about coming here now that she was normal... well, close enough to it atleast.

"I-I'm fine, I've already been a student here for a while after all. I don't think this should scare me too much." Kurumi clearly lied through her teeth, even if Shido knew it she wasn't letting him see her with guard down.

Shido knew saying anything to help relieve her would probably only add fuel to the fire, so he took her hand, causing the black-haired girl to blush from his touch before relaxing as she realized it was his silent way of helping her relax.

The two soon walked into class together, and it didn't take long for everyone to gasp at the sight of their held hands, and a bunch of responses began flying out of their classmates.

"No way... Shido actually got a real girlfriend before me." Hiroto said plainly before bringing his phone out and hugging it. "Please comfort me my digital darling, and I'll buy whatever you want later."

"Oh, my god. They're holding hands and she's blushing." Ai began.

"Does that mean she defeated Tobiichi?" Mai continued.

"That's... so lame?" Mii finished, using her usual reply.

Kurumi giggled at all of those responses, and soon Origami came in and looked at Kurumi.

"...I believe I told you a while back that students weren't allowed to hold hands Kurumi Tokisaki, and I don't believe your 'anemia' is acting up again." Origami said, and Kurumi smirked at that as she recalled Origami hadn't been awake to her Shido's declaration, Origami sweated at the face she made.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, you don't know Origami? I was so sure that we had told you..." Kurumi starts, smiling as she held Shido's arm with her own. "Shido and I took the next step in our relationship together."

The entire class gasped at this, taking their hand holding as confirmation they were dating now.

While Origami showed shock, she kept her cool.

"I don't... I don't believe-"

"And it wasn't just a mere kiss either." Kurumi said, it would be this one moment that Shido would forever wish he had been able to see the future and stop what Kurumi said next. "I've memorized every nook and cranny of Shido's body, I mapped out each inch as I was running my tongue over him."

The entire class including Shido and the normally stoic Origami flinched.

"Yesterday we were merely just flirting, but by morning I found myself waking up in his home."

"Uh, Kurumi, I think you should-" Shido tried to interject, only to fail as Kurumi covered his mouth.

"I've already made him promise me to take responsibility for his actions, in fact he's so bossy he even demanded on which lingerie I should wear when he eventually rips off my wedding dress." Kurumi continued, giggling as many of her classmates gasped at that. "I'm wearing them now if anyone wants to see?"

The entire class' reactions seemed like the equivalent of a frozen video game screen at that moment, all with eyes closed of shock and their jaws wide open. Shido sweated in worry, while the normally blank and dull faced Origmai had gone fully red before stuttering and sliding onto her knees, her mind having shutdown.

'He. Did. WHAT!?" Ai thought.

'What the hell did Shido do with her!?' Mai thought, almost as if she read Ai's mind.

"No wait, it's not what you're all thinking!" Shido tried to explain as all the guys glared at him with anger over claiming Kurumi as his own, and jealousy because of what Kurumi had lied about him doing.

However he'd never get the attempt to diffuse the situation as a picture flew out of his pocket. Ai caught it before her and everyone who saw it blushed at what they saw.

"What, what is it?"

Shido soon saw an image of Kurumi in nothing but white panties and leggings, her hair covering the important parts of her chest, making him scream in horror.

"Oh, so that's where that image went. Shido, you naught boy." Kurumi giggled, soon seeing Shido gasp before running out the classroom as most of his male classmates chased him. "He's so cute when he gets flustered."

From the Fraxinus, everyone on the crew minus Kotori and Mana who had gone to school as well all stared in shock.

'Kurumi... I think you now scare me even more than when you were trying to kill all of us.' Mio thought, worried about her son's social future.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a strange black realm emitting various forms of energy, a single being encompassed by the energy slept on the unseen ground.

"..." The being stayed still, though the realm's energy suddenly flashed before he gasped slightly as their eyes opened, before quickly going back to sleep, almost as if being forced to.

* * *

**...And that's all she wrote for this story! I'll have to admit, my favorite part of this chapter was the last scene between Shido and his classmates, I really needed a way to help show despite Kurumi's no longer the same Spirit who killed accomplish her goals, she's been flirty for way too long to give that part of herself up. *giggles* I hope Shido can handle it, cause she's not gonna be afraid to drop comments like that in public despite what they might lead to.**

**This story was really fun to write. In the process of making this story, I've managed to learn of the few problems I still need to fix as I get back into my writing groove, and gained new ideas for how I can improve my writing style while also bettering it for everyone reading it, I can easily say I'm happy with how Kurumi Fearful ultimately turned out in the end.**

**Now with the main part out of the way, time for my announcement I mentioned at the upper author notes... or rather, announcements, because I have more than one for you all!**

**After seeing how much I enjoyed writing the short stories for the Date Another Origin series, I've decided that each one will eventually get a planned sequel! My writing skills are just itching too much to not do this, but I will atleast take my time and focus on my current projects before adding too much onto my plate, so for right now all I can tell you is that it will happen, when it will happen however is another story.**

**Also, I said before I'd finally get to work on one of my full story projects, and after some thought I've decided the first one will be "A Dragon's Heavenly Bonds", I figure I should do this idea since most of my ideas are DAL stories (and admittedly, most of them will probably be DAL stories) and it's the only non-DAL fanfic project I have right now.**

**It'll be my main focus for now, so you'll likely mostly see chapters from it before I begin work on any of the rest of my short story ideas. After I finish the equivalent to its first season however, Date A Re:Live will quickly follow.**

**It hasn't been much, but everything I've gained from making just three stories has shown me how much I wanna write them and write them here on FFN, and I'll do my best to make stories you'll all enjoy. So I hope to everyone who's favorited/following me and/or my stories right now, and to everyone that will in the future, continues to enjoy my work, because that's all I ask for. Just the fact you've enjoyed my work.**

**Woo, sorry if that announcement was a bit of a mouthful, until the next story everyone, and to any readers who are fellow FFN authors here? Stay awesome.**


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